Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2006
497 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his proposals to bring together the different organisations such as LEADER, Partnership and so on under one administration; if the necessary funds will be made available to provide the necessary rural employment to replace the job losses in agriculture where so many are being forced out on a daily basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26372/06]
View answerI wish to refer the Deputy to the reply to Question No. 65 of 16th May and Nos. 98 and 100 of 21st March 2006 in relation to the background to the review of local and community structures.
The key principles governing the review are:
improving on the ground services, supports and impacts on local communities, from within existing levels of resources,
streamlining and rationalising structures so as to avoid overlaps, duplication and undue administrative overheads,
bringing transparency, co-ordination and improved control to the funding and operation of local/community development measures,
strengthening the democratic accountability of agencies and service providers in this area.
The primary aim is to secure improved co-ordination of service provision on the ground and thereby achieve maximum impact for expenditure in a given area.
In relation to the cohesion programme funding of €3,248,600 was allocated during 2004 to support specific measures developed by local agencies. A total of €4,836,927 was awarded in respect of cohesion initiatives during 2005, including €1,463,400 for the promotion of volunteering. The provision for 2006 is €4,273,000 from which I have approved €3,049,696 for cohesion actions as well as €76,600 for volunteering measures. To date, I have approved proposals from 22 County/City Development Boards and Údarás na Gaeltachta. Discussions are on-going in relation to the remaining 12 CDBs.
I am well aware of the changing nature of agriculture in Ireland in recent years, particularly, the increase in part-time farming, and it was with this in mind that I introduced the Rural Social Scheme in 2004. The Scheme aims to provide income support for low-income farmers and fishermen and also to provide certain services of benefit to rural communities. The Scheme allows low-income farmers to earn a supplementary income while at the same time, rural communities benefit from their skills and talents in maintaining and improving local amenities and facilities. The Scheme has proved to be very popular and currently there are over 2,350 participants. Funding of €42.322m has been provided for the Scheme this year.
