Joe Sherlock
Question:35 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will give details of the proposed EC Leader programme; the benefits which will be available to Irish farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - EC Leader Programme.
Bernard Allen
Question:38 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will make a statement on the £300 million rural development project announced by Mr. Ray MacSharry, EC Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 35 and 38 together.
Leader is the EC's initiative on rural development. The purpose of Leader is to encourage groups in local rural communities to become involved in and to draw up plans for the development of their own areas. The groups to be financed will be selected by the EC Commission, in consultation with the member state, on the basis of business plans to be drawn up by the groups themselves. Technical assistance funding is expected to be available to help groups in preparing plans.
Any rural group, public, private or mixed, which satisfies requirements in relation to size of rural area, that is, 5,000 to 100,000 population, and other criteria as to solvency, administrative ability and local representation, is eligible for Leader funding for its integrated business plan.
The measures eligible for inclusion in business plans are the stimulation of rural development, vocational training and assistance for employment, rural tourism, small firms, craft enterprises and local services, exploitation and marketing of local products and measures relating to the equipment and linking of local development groups.
The Commission is providing 400 MECU, about £300 million, to fund the Leader programme and it plans to aid about 100 groups.
I have no official information so far as to the proportion of the 400 MECU to be allocated to Ireland, the number of Irish plans to be funded, or the ratio of private, national and Community financing which the Commission envisages.
My objective is to achieve as wide as possible a geographical spread of the Leader funds here subject, of course, to effective use of the funds. I hope that the Commission will agree to fund around 12 groups in Ireland. Ideally, I would like to see two groups in each of the six regions — excluding Dublin — adopted for the purpose of preparing the National Development Plan 1989-93 under the reformed Structural Funds.
I am very encouraged that there is already a very high level of public awareness of the Leader initiative. Media publicity and information provided by my Department has led to a very good understanding of the purpose and philosophy of Leader among rural communities.
I expect to make an official announcement about Leader very shortly coupled with advertisements in the national papers inviting groups to submit plans for consideration. Every effort will continue to be made to encourage groups to liaise with others in their region to ensure that coherent and effective plans are prepared.