Urban Development Dail Éireann — 2026-02-04 ============================================================ Thomas Gould (SF), Cork North-Central The Minister of State mentioned the seed funding. The seed funding was actually a very good idea, although I will come in here and criticise, argue and disagree with the Government. However, there was a decision to cut it back last year. While €1 million was needed for community projects, only €450,000 was allocated, which was less than half. I think it was actually €1.2 million that was needed but let us just call it €1 million. This was an initiative that was good, with money that was to be spent on social initiatives in the community, and that could have made a difference. To me, this seed funding should have been expanded to other areas because it helped put money for sporting organisations and community organisations where it needed to be spent in the areas that required regeneration. The Minister of State mentioned 2011 when the original plan was changed. That was 15 years ago. Why has it taken 15 years to build 620 houses? That is what they are talking about in the plan - 620 houses. The Minister of State gave a date for it being completed - and I stand to be corrected - of 2028. That Knocknaheeny regeneration will not be complete for at least eight more years. They have not got to the Kilmore Road Lower houses. They have not got to the Dunmore Gardens site or Killala Gardens. This goes back to Hollyhill, Ardcullen, Ardmore Avenue and Courtown Drive, which were the initial part of the regeneration but where the works were substandard. I am from Knocknaheeny. My dad lives there. My mother-in-law lives there. I am proud. It is a brilliant community. Why is Limerick getting €500 million, Ballymun getting €1 billion, and Knocknaheeny getting less than €100 million? Is that fair? We need this to work. We need places like Mayfield and Blackpool to be supported also. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-04/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:35+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-04