Allocations for the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, have been announced this week and Drogheda, the largest town in the country outside of the major cities, got absolutely no support. It got zero marks, practically, in its application. Of the 70-odd applications, Drogheda is in the lowest cohort, in about 66th place. That is entirely unacceptable. There is a huge crisis of confidence in local government, both locally and nationally, as a result of this decision. The assessment of the Drogheda application must be published immediately, today. We will hold accountable the people who are responsible for that. It is most important that the Taoiseach meets the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, the Secretary General of his Department and the CEO of the Louth County Council, Joan Martin, to ensure that the €200 million left in that fund is accounted for and that a fair and adequate proportion of it is spent in Drogheda. What has happened here is entirely unacceptable, shocking and shameful. This is not the first or second but the third time this has happened. People in Drogheda are very angry and are up in arms. The Taoiseach must act now.

This road has been in the planning for 15 long years. Three applications for funding were made and all three applications were refused funding. This week, the Minister refused funding once again. This is the very same Minister who came electioneering to Drogheda in 2019, called a public meeting, called for the road to be funded, said it was a matter of urgency, that it was part of the northern environs plan and was a critical piece of infrastructure. What did we see from him this week? The usual reverting to sleeveen politics and the rejection of the application once again. This decision must be overturned. We will not take it lying down. If the Taoiseach is sick of me raising this issue more than 20 times, he should get used to it, because I am not letting this go. How dare he turn his back on Drogheda once again? We have been looking for this funding for 15 years. Is there an appeals process? There had better be, because we are going to appeal this decision.

I thank the Deputies for raising the issue. Louth County Council did have a successful €7.5 million application in Dundalk for the St. Nicholas Quarter and Backlands regeneration project under the latest funding announcement for the URDF and that should be acknowledged. The Government is committed to Drogheda, and we understand the disappointment with the application which was not successful. The application was not recommended by the project advisory board, which made the recommendations. That advisory board is made up of civil servants with specialist expertise in the various sectoral areas, and representatives from other Departments and Government agencies, as appropriate. The board used the criteria of the URDF to make its assessment and sent its recommendations to the Minister. The Minister has held back money from the fund to address unsuccessful applications that can be strengthened. It is critical for the local authority to re-engage fully with this process.

The Minister has committed to re-engaging with Deputies O'Dowd and Munster and other local representatives, as well as the local authority, to improve the submission or identify alternative funding routes that may be more appropriate.

Thank you, Taoiseach. The time is up.

The URDF has specific criteria-----

We cannot go on any further on this matter.