Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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624. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if a grant will be awarded to an organisation (details supplied) in order to enable it continue to participate in tidy district competitions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50025/17]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The 60^thanniversary of the TidyTowns competition will take place in 2018. In order to celebrate this milestone and to mark the invaluable work carried out by generations of TidyTowns volunteers in their own communities, I recently announced a €1.4 million grant scheme to assist committees with their preparations for the upcoming competition in 2018.

The scheme will allow each local committee which has entered the competition in any of the past 3 years to apply for a grant of between €1,000 and €4,000 to support the work they do. The level of grant will be based on each town or area’s category under the TidyTowns competition criteria.

Pobal is administering the grant scheme on behalf of my Department. I have written to all eligible committees - including the group referred to by the Deputy - and advised them of the grant availability and how it may be applied for. In order to obtain this once-off grant payment, the group concerned should complete, sign and return the acceptance form to Pobal by 15^thDecember 2017.