Departmental Programmes
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-14
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Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

Absolutely. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I are working hard to ensure that CLÁR gets increased funding. As Deputy McGuinness knows, under 2025, Waterford received €572,000 for nine projects under measures 1 and 2. On the Deputy's comments about loneliness, that is why we have the mobility scheme and the transport scheme. It gives local organisations in rural areas that would not have the resources to invest in buses the chance to do that. I was with a group the other day involved with a bus that brings to hospital appointments, to mass and to social events people who otherwise, through illness etc., would be isolated in their homes. Ardmore, Glenwilliam, Lismore rural and Tallow have all been added to the CLÁR programme within the Deputy's county, so I look forward to seeing the applications from Waterford later this year for projects in those areas. Over the course of the summer recess, we hope to be in a position to announce this year's mobility grants, but it is a really important programme. CLÁR used to be a transformative programme. It is transformative in a different way now, but in terms of its capacity for our rural economy I have a vision of getting back to that as well in terms of power etc.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-14