Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 June 2004
206 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the extent to which he has awarded financial assistance towards community or other groups under the heading of rural affairs within his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17069/04]
View answerMy Department has provided financial assistance to community and other groups dealing with rural affairs through a number of different schemes and programmes. These include the Leader programme, CLÁR, the rural development fund and PEACE II, as well as the community and local development programmes.
The Leader programmes are EU programmes in place to encourage the implementation of integrated, high-quality and innovative strategies in rural communities, including a number of rural enterprises projects. Some 22 local action groups throughout the country deliver the EU Leader+ initiative. The allocation for Leader+ for the period 2000 to 2006 is €73.6 million, which is co-funded by the EU. The Leader national rural development programme closely complements the Leader+ initiative and is operated by 13 local groups in areas of the country not covered by Leader+. It also provides nationwide coverage for rural and agricultural tourism and focuses more on mainstream activities. The allocation for 2000 to 2006 is €75.7 million, which is also co-funded by the EU. One of the key aims of the Leader programme is to maintain and develop local rural communities and to create opportunities for rural people to live and work in their local area.
CLÁR is a regeneration programme targeted at areas of specific population decline. This programme co-ordinates existing sources of public and private finance and provides additional stimulus funding for the provision of small scale economic and social infrastructure to help rural communities overcome local difficulties and achieve access to a range of essential services such as water supply, sewerage disposal, road access, broadband communication, community and economic infrastructure, etc. This programme has vividly demonstrated that small amounts of public funding, specifically targeted, can have an enormous impact in disadvantaged rural areas experiencing low or declining populations. Expenditure under the programme amounted to €14.14 million in 2002 and to €8.613 million in 2003 which, it is estimated, levered out a further €21 million in related public and private expenditure in those two years. The provision in the Estimates for 2004 is €13.49 million, which constitutes a 57% increase in the 2003 outturn.
The areas targeted under the CLÁR programme have and will continue to benefit from assistance under the range of measures operated. These areas are parts of counties Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath and all of County Leitrim. Community based projects attracting less than 50% public funding under Leader may qualify for CLÁR top-up funding, subject to certain conditions. As this scheme is demand led, there is no specific allocation. To date in 2004, approximately €303,000 of CLÁR funding for six projects has been approved.
My Department shares joint responsibility with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Ireland, for two rural development measures under the PEACE II programme, priority 5, measure 6 (a) and 6(b). Three projects have been approved to date under both measures, with a total funding package of €3.3 million.
My Department provides funding for these programmes, which operate across rural and urban areas. Details on funding of these programmes are set out in my reply to today's Questions Nos. 208 and 209.
