Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Supervalu TidyTowns competition is a unique community movement which has a huge impact on our communities throughout Ireland. It is an important and effective sustainability initiative both from an environmental and community perspective. It encourages communities to improve their local environment and make their area a better place to live, work and visit in line with the objectives of Our Rural Future, the national rural development policy.

I am very conscious of the work undertaken by Tidy Towns Groups across the country and of the costs involved in this work. With this in mind, I have put in place supports for groups in recent years. At the 2023 national awards ceremony in Croke Park, where I announced Abbeyleix as Ireland's Tidiest Town for 2023, I also announced a funding package of €1.5 million to support TidyTowns groups in their initiatives for the 2024 competition.

This funding brings the total allocation by my Department since 2017 to €9.6 million in direct funding to over 1,000 TidyTowns groups. The funding of between €1,000 and €4,000 is being provided to groups to assist them in preparing for the 2024 Competition.

The group referenced by the Deputy are entitled to apply for a grant of €1,000. Pobal who are administering the grant on behalf of my Department are in contact with the group regarding their grant application.