Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)

I take the Deputy's point on the position of the LCDCs. They are at a fairly high level. I will take the opportunity to again encourage small groups to join the local PPN because, when they are in there, they have a pass into what the local authority has available. I refer to staff and training but also the grants I mentioned with which we support them. I will also mention the volunteer centres. I mention them because they very often pair people with people who want to volunteer with a local group, particularly at board level. Volunteer centres have a bank of expertise and are very happy to link people with small local groups. I take the Deputy's point that there are likely to be pockets around the country where there is no self-organising group. We operate on the basis of letting people take the initiative. If people have come together and taken some initiative, we are in a position to support them. In my follow-up, I will tell the Deputy a little bit more about what we are doing where that has not happened.

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