A Cheann Comhairle, I appreciate the opportunity you have given to me to raise a matter which is the subject of serious concern in County Tipperary. It is causing a great deal of anger and frustration, is the subject of rumour and counter-rumour, allegation and gossip and, if allowed to carry on without clarification, it will completely undermine the hopes and aspirations of a number of people who have invested heavily of their time and resources. I refer to the Leader programme, a scheme designed to give a substantial boost to entrepreneurial flair in rural development and the means by which talent and ambition could bring dreams to fruition. The exact opposite has happened. Not alone have dreams been savagely shattered, but a number of people have been driven to the edge of despair by the manner in which they have been treated and by the way their plans for the future have been trampled on.
The Leader programme in Tipperary is being administered by the Tipperary Enterprise Company, an organisation set up initially to promote the county and its products. It is now clearly evident that this was a major mistake in relation to the Leader programme. Far from being administered, the scheme is in a state of dissaray and appears to be in a hopeless tangle. The reason for this is that Tipperary Enterprise lacks the administrative structure to properly look after such a scheme and should not have been the vehicle chosen to do so in the first place, given that Shannon Development and Tipperary County Councils already had the administrative structures and expertise to discharge the responsibilities of a scheme involving £2.5 million of public money. The board of Tipperary Enterprise are all highly competent people, chosen because of their excellence in their own fields of endeavour. Their individual competence or ability is not in question. What is at issue is why the responsibility for the Leader programme was handed to a company which simply do not have the administrative backup necessary for the proper execution of their duties in this matter.
A number of projects which had been prepared for submission to the Leader programme and which were destined for financial assistance — some of these had been given unequivocal verbal assurances and others written assurances that support would be forthcoming — eventually found themselves caught up in a morass of conflicting replies, half truths and plain downright bungling. One project was submitted last year and was given approval in late 1991 to go ahead. On the basis of a written assurance from Tipperary Enterprise, the project organisers went ahead and arranged bridging finance. They were assured that the project was excellent, that it passed the feasibility study and received written confirmation that it met all the Leader guidelines. Yet a bare two months later the amount of money promised was slashed from £30,000 to £10,000 despite the organisers having already committed themselves to a substantial bank overdraft. It took a further two months of hassle and extreme difficulty to get a payment through a bank account in Clonmel. This action has effectively scuttled the project and wasted public and private funds. This is not what was envisaged for the Leader progrmme.
The abysmal standards of administration and the total lack of professionalism in the scheme are illustrated by the way in which a community-based project in Borrisokane, sponsored by Tipperary Lakeside Development Company is being betrayed. In its original format, the project was included as an integral part of the Tipperary Enterprise Leader submission to Brussels and the organisers were given to understand that the application was successful under four broad headings. That was over 18 months ago and now, despite having a massive voluntary input into the project, despite having a number of business people waiting to move into premises, despite having appointed a project director and having leased a property from Shannon Development, no definite funding has been forthcoming. Co-operation from Tipperary Enterprise has been badly lacking and in fact promises already made are being reneged upon. One of the people intimately involved in the project has told me that from their earliest dealings with Tipperary Enterprise they have been appalled by the lack of business practice, even to the basic courtesy of answering letters. I understand that Tipperary Enterprise Company are presently functioning without a chief executive, that telephone calls are responded to only by an answering machine, that staff have been disemployed and that they are now operating with a skeleton staff. The company have serious financial problems.
Very serious questions are awaiting reply. Is the Minister aware through his Department's representative on the board, of the alarming, disgraceful and unacceptable level of incompetence displayed by administrators purporting to represent Tipperary Enterprise and the Leader programme? Is he further aware that by defaulting on commitments an appalling level of financial hardship, mental stress and strain has been inflicted on individuals whose dreams have been shattered. Where does the accountability lie in this case, and what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that all promises given will be substantiated with finance?
I ask the Minister how much money has actually been handed over to Tipperary Enterprise for disbursement under the Leader programme? Could the Minister also tell us, how much of the money has been spent to date on approved projects, and how many they are in number? Further, could I ask the Minister how much has been spent on the administration of the programme by Tipperary Enterprise and what percentage this forms of the total amount handed over?
Is the Minister satisfied that the budgetary guidelines are being met, and that administrative spending is within the ratio laid down? Is the Minister satisfied that applicant project submissions are being examined and treated in a dispassionate and objective fashion, since many worthwhile projects are not being accepted and there appears to be a degree of selective subjectivity in some assessments that have been accepted? Who has the final decision on the eligibility of projects offered? Could the Minister even attempt to explain how an executive of a company disbursing money on behalf of his Department could sign a contract for £89,000 for a computer which, a short time later, has current value of £15,000? These questions must be answered as a matter of urgency in order to protect the future of the Leader programme and to assure the public that the confusion, anomalies and administrative failures will be corrected to enable the scheme to be conducted in an orderly and proper fashion.