Joe Flaherty (Fianna Fail)

I warmly welcome budget 2026. It is fair to say that no one budget can achieve everything a nation aspires to but this is a seismic budget in terms of what we are setting out to achieve on the single biggest challenge we have in the country, which is housing. We will have 10,200 social homes delivered in 2026 and 15,000 starter homes, through a variety of schemes, such as the first home scheme, vacant grants and affordable and cost rental properties, as well as the help to buy scheme. All in all, it is a positive budget for housing. In addition, I was very pleased to see an additional €3 million for the community centre investment fund to support the refurbishment of existing and construction of new community centres right across the country. I know this will be warmly welcomed by my colleague in Lanesborough, County Longford, Councillor Sean Mimnagh, who has been championing the delivery of a new purpose-built community centre for Lanesborough. It is one of the few large towns in the county that does not have a dedicated and modern community centre facility. It is important that he works with Longford County Council to deliver this. He is looking at a notable site in the centre of the town. There is also an opportunity for industrial sites and the reactivation of the plans for a food hub in Lanesborough. I want to continue to work with him and I encourage Longford County Council to engage with his plans. He has many ambitious plans. He is also looking at a camper van site for the banks of the River Shannon. It would be a major breakthrough for tourism generally in Longford as, apart from a small facility in Clondra, we do not have a dedicated camper van site in Longford. He has visited a number of sites across the country with officials from Longford County Council. It is an ambitious project and is indicative of the ambition this councillor has for his home town. I, and Longford County Council, will work fervently with him to deliver on all those projects.