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

Absolutely. I am very much open to that. Along with the Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and Cummins, I had the pleasure of visiting the area mentioned by the Deputy back in June. I know that the Comeragh area has a super weekend in the Comeraghs Wild Festival. We were able, through ORIS, to make investments in the forests there. The project in Lismore is one of the best LEADER projects I have seen. I refer to what has happened at the back of the bank there, in terms of the glamping pods, and the plan for the bank. There are other alternatives apart from CLÁR. The community groups in the area the Deputy has mentioned are some of the best in the country. I put on record my appreciation to all the community groups across Waterford - we had a super day of engagements - and to Waterford County and City Council, which is kind of the scaffolding around this, and to Waterford LEADER. There are a lot of really good groups there, including a lot of fantastic community groups. The Deputy is lucky to be in a county where volunteers are willing to stand up and take the leadership and the initiative that we saw right across the county that day. A lot of counties could look to Waterford and learn from that work but also the fact that it is all community-led and community-driven.

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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