Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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424. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if he is aware that the town of Dungarvan, County Waterford, has no community centre; his views on whether it is appropriate that a large town such as Dungarvan would be without important community infrastructure of this type; and if he will commit to working across party lines and across Government to address this deficit [4184/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department supports the development and refurbishment of community facilities across the country through a range of interventions, particularly the Community Centre Investment Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the Community Recognition Fund and the LEADER programme.

Since the Community Centre Investment Fund was established in 2022, over €109 million has been approved for enhancement and refurbishment works on existing community facilities and for the construction of new builds where such a need was identified.

This includes €30 million for the construction of 12 new build community centres that was approved last year. I understand that an application was not received in respect of a new build community centre in Dungarvan.

I would encourage the Deputy and the local community to engage with their local authority with a view to exploring options to address identified needs within their locality and to consider which of the funding programmes available from my Department would be in a position to assist them in this regard. Details in respect of all of these funding programmes are available on my Department's website.