Vol. 563 No. 5
104 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the amount of money spent on CLÁR in 2002; his budget for 2003; the percentage increased area he took into CLÁR; if he will assure the people whose hopes have been raised by their inclusion in CLÁR in 2003 that there will be sufficient funds in his Department and at council level to make a meaningful difference; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8346/03]
119 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress made to date in regard to the implementation of the CLÁR programme; the number of areas in respect of which plans have been submitted to his Department; the total projected budgets for these plans; when work on the implementation of the plans is likely to get under way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8325/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 104 and 119 together.
I launched the CLÁR Programme (Ceantair Laga Árd Riachtanais) – a targeted investment programme in rural areas – on 5 October 2001.
The areas selected are those which have suffered the greatest depopulation since 1926 with the exception of the Cooley Peninsula, which was included based on the serious difficulties caused for that area by foot and mouth disease.
Arising from the commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government, on 17 January last I announced the extension of the CLÁR areas to include an additional 189 DEDs, bringing the total to 890 in 18 counties. The total population in the extended CLÁR areas has increased from 283,654 to 361,901.
CLÁR funds, or co-funds with other Departments, State agencies and local authorities, investment in selected priority developments. These measures support physical community and social infrastructure across a variety of measures such as electricity conversions, roads, water and sewerage, village enhancement, health and sports projects. The measures introduced under the programme reflect the priorities identified by the communities in the selected areas whom I consulted at the outset.
