Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2004
211 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he intends to meet with the new EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Marian Fischer Boel, to discuss future rural development funding for Ireland; the form he anticipates such funding will take; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22694/04]
View answerI look forward to meeting Commissioner designate Fischer Boel in the near future.
Negotiations have already commenced at European Council level on the form and scope of the next generation of rural development measures due to commence in 2007. A key feature of the Commission's proposals in this regard is the inclusion of a complete priority axis of measures aimed at addressing the critical social and economic difficulties faced by rural communities experiencing ageing, static or declining populations.
While it is early days yet in the negotiations, it is becoming increasingly clear that the detailed provisions of this axis will significantly reflect, in many cases, those initiatives and schemes implemented by my Department, particularly under the CLÁR programme, rural social scheme and LEADER initiative. My Department will have a leading role in advancing this wider rural economy axis under the regulation.
EU funding allocations to rural development programmes will be decided as part of the negotiations on the overall budgetary framework for the EU for 2007 to 2013, known as the financial perspectives. Until the budgetary ceiling is agreed it will not be possible to estimate indicative financial allocations to member states, and even less so to individual headings. However, in the meantime, the Commission has signalled that commitments to member states for national rural development programmes will be based on a mix of indicators including past performance. On this basis, following the very successful experience of the LEADER model nationally, it is hoped that Ireland will once again receive a significant share of funding. It must be recognised, however, that in a Union of potentially 27 member states and given the enormous success of the Irish economy, particularly in the last ten years, it will be very difficult to secure funding levels close to those achieved previously.
