Pat Rabbitte
Question:15 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the role, if any, he envisages for the local authorities in the implementation of the Leader Programme, and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Leader Programme.
The Leader Programme is an EC initiative and the conditions for its implementation have been laid down by the EC Commission. It is not aimed primarily at official bodies such as local authorities, but rather at local groups interested in drawing up and implementing business plans for their own areas. There is, of course, no reason why a local authority should not participate in such a group and I am aware that some local authorities are very active in encouraging and assisting other groups to combine and to prepare a business plan for submission for their area.
The Minister partially answered the question. Some local authorities are doing this. I hoped the Minister would say that local authorities would be requested and helped to advance this programme because it is very difficult for groups to get together unless there is somebody in the area to take the initiative such as a local development officer of local community officer of a local authority. The whole programme will be lost in areas unless there is somebody to take the initiative. I hope the Minister will, through the Minister for the Environment, request all local authorities to participate and give assistance to local groups for this programme.
I have invited local authorities to get involved and to give assistance where possible. However, the nature of the scheme, which is a European Community scheme, means that it is not one to be promoted exclusively or through the agency of local statutory bodies in any country. I agree with the Deputy, and my Department ensured the attendance, as much as possible, of all enterprise groups and representatives, including local authorities, at many information sessions held around the country.
In view of the short time available for groups to set up communities and submit proposals to meet the deadline I would ask that all Department of Agriculture agencies and other groups should provide all the information possible through those groups. There are problems related to particular areas. There are alternative farm enterprises and there is agri-tourism. I hope the Department will make a dossier available to those groups dealing with the area they are involved in, thus maximising the benefit of the programme.
I acknowledge the difficulties the Deputy referred to. Other Deputies have raised them from time to time. The deadline for the submissions of plans to my Department was originally to be 15 July. It is now proposed to extend that to 31 July, so they will have more time to get their plans together. We cannot extend it beyond that because we have to make our submissions to the European Commission by 20 September.
I am also glad to tell the House that yesterday I sanctioned technical assistance grants of up to £2,500 each to various groups across the country to help them to prepare their business plans.
This is a pilot programme. Those groups that are not initially in should not conclude that they will never be able to get involved in such a programme. The Commission has specifically indicated that this is a pilot programme. As far as possible I will extend its operation even on a pilot basis to a very considerable part of the country.
Is the Minister telling us that this is only a pilot programme and that there will be another programme after 31 July? Is it feasible to have these plans comprehensively put together within the time scale allowed? I welcome the fact that the time was extended because if it had not been there would have been serious problems. Has everybody who has applied for feasibility studies to put these plans together been approved by the Department?
The pilot programme to which I am referring is a European Community pilot programme. After about two years it is the intention that the Community review the impact of that pilot programme throughout the Community. For us to get involved in that pilot programme the deadlines I have mentioned and have extended are the deadlines which will be used. We are about to notify a considerable number of groups to be considered here for submission to the European Commission for grant assistance for the preparation of the plans. At the end of the day only 12 groups or regions will be accepted by the Commission and therefore we have to try to integrate a lot of applicants who have applied independently of each other.