Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

To clarify, the Government is looking at how we can further support impacted towns and villages across a range of different public services. I look forward to seeing the proposals that emerge on that in the coming weeks. For now, specifically in relation to community recognition, the focus is very much on getting the approved projects delivered on the ground. These projects can only make a difference when they are operational and my Department is committed to working with all parties to ensure that happens as quickly as possible. I am confident that these projects will deliver real and lasting benefits to many communities which have been awarded funding under the community recognition fund.

My experience in the Department has been that it has a strong focus and record of working with local authorities to get capital projects done. These have a fairly predictable trajectory. When a timeline is open to get something done, the number of completions tends to increase. I think the Senator will see the number of completions accelerate as we work through the year.

Local authorities did not see this coming which meant they had to start from a standstill. We asked them to look at available projects on which they could move fast. They were not expecting the fund, so it took off slowly but the allocations being drawn down on the ground are increasing.