No, the Deputy cannot come back. I apologise.

Sentiment score: 0.04

I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue this evening. I am not sure if he has been to Sallins, County Kildare. I know he has had many a nice day in Kildare previously. Sallins is a growing town with a population of over 6,000 according to the most recent census. The Minister of State can imagine the news in 2024 when the community was awarded €3 million as part of the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. It promised to be a very exciting time for the community. The town is served well by Sallins GAA and Sallins Celtic, along with many other clubs. These amenity lands will include a number of multi-use pitches for the likes of GAA, soccer and cricket. There will be many uses. What the community cannot comprehend, however, is how, two years on from that announcement, there has not been an iota of movement in expenditure with regard to the project. We know the project is being led by the local authority. It has recently finished a wonderful project in Kerdiffstown where the old refuse site has been transformed into a recreational amenity space. To see it is to believe it. It is marvellous. The council has the authority and competency to be able to deliver this project but the Department has asked for more information over and over again and another business case. It talks about gateways 1, 2 and 3 and it has tied the project in a level of bureaucracy that I have never seen before. A number of projects were part of that tranche, totalling nearly €170 million. Out of that €170 million, I wonder how many other communities have struggled to even press the start button on their project because of this level of bureaucracy and the Department's mistrust of local authorities or bodies that have managed to secure the funding in the first place by going through such a rigorous application process. The issue was the budget. The cost of the project in the first instance was far in excess of €3 million. When the €3 million was allocated, it was bit of a case of going back to the drawing board. The council stepped in and matched that funding with another €3 million, but it still required a rethink of the project. What it boils down to now is a need for leadership. We need to see the money coming from the Department to Sallins, County Kildare. It is a simple and straightforward thing. Two years later, that is not too much to ask. It needs the Minister of State with responsibility for this area, Deputy McConalogue, to act. I ask the Minister of State to take this back to his colleague this evening. The Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, needs to show a bit of leadership, convene a meeting between all the stakeholders to determine where the problems lie and ensure we deliver this project for the community. This is happening in a context where the variation of the county development plan is open for public consultation this week. Sallins Celtic is facing the prospect of the land it plays on being rezoned for residential use. It is potentially looking at a situation where it will be homeless in the near future. There is, therefore, an urgency about this matter. I ask the Minister of State to consider that in his communications with the Minister of State with responsibility for this area. I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this Topical Issue this evening.

Sentiment score: 0.11

You can see it in the response - "The Department anticipates the project will pass approval gate 1 in the coming weeks" - but it is two years since the funding was secured. I will emphasise a couple of points. From the Sallins perspective, it is Kildare County Council running this. It is not a community group that may or may not have the time. It is the local authority running this project. How can the local authority not be trusted, having to put it through so many hoops or what you might want to call "gateways"? I think four or five times the Department came back to the council looking for more information. It is borderline ridiculous at this point. People in Kildare always seem to be on the suffering end whereby the housing is coming but so are the congestion, lack of services and slow pace with which important social infrastructure is delivered. From a public accounts perspective, I really query whether Sallins is alone in this. The Minister of State said there may be another round in the coming months. The allocation is brilliant. This type of money and investment in our communities is brilliant but when you get past the headline and look at the ability to draw down that money, I am really concerned Sallins is not alone and there will be many other projects that have gone through a similar gateway fiasco, where they have the funds but cannot access them. That is a problem we need to consider collectively. I will bring the matter to the Committee of Public Accounts.

Sentiment score: -0.00