Following last night’s “RTÉ Investigates” programme, I again raise issues of transparency, as I have done on numerous previous occasions in the period from 2017 until now, regarding the funding announced in the context of the rural regeneration and development fund and other funds administered by the Department of Rural and Community Development. In late 2019, three projects worth €6.8 million in total were announced for County Mayo while the whole of County Cork received €2.6 million. All of that money went in total to north-west Cork, while west Cork got nothing despite the fact that it had a shovel-ready project in the pipeline in the same year. Can the Minister assure me that funding under the rural regeneration and development fund was approved on the basis of the merits of the projects that were put forward and that no political influence was involved? What investigations will be carried out by the Government in respect of the funding irregularities exposed by the “RTÉ Investigates” programme last night?

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this matter. Much of the material that was used in the “RTÉ Investigates” programme last night is made available through the Local Government Audit Service. Some of the issues covered last night were based on findings that have come out from the audits of local government. To answer the Deputy’s question on how transparency in general is being delivered, this happens through the very audits which revealed some of the cases that were covered last night. I assure the Deputy that decisions on the funding of projects through the rural regeneration and development fund are, of course, made on the basis of the merits of the projects.