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Community Development

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

Questions (904)

Seán Kyne

Question:

920 Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when a definite outcome regarding the provision of a successor to Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta is envisaged to be in operation; and if, in the interests of fairness, priority will be given, in the new arrangements, to the community groups who had submitted applications to MFG prior to its liquidation. [19261/12]

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Written answers

My Department is actively working to ensure that services in Gaeltacht areas previously provided by MFG can be maintained.

With regard to the Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP), which is administered on behalf of my Department by Pobal, interim arrangements have recently been put in place whereby funding for LCDP activities in Gaeltacht areas will be administered through contiguous Local Development Companies (LDCs) for an initial six month period, subject to a review of progress after 3 months. The LDCs have been advised that the LCDP services must continue to be delivered to communities in an effective and coherent manner, through the medium of Irish, in the short/medium term, pending a longer term solution for Gaeltacht service delivery. The LDCs have been asked to prioritise the planning for this work by liaising with both Pobal and Údarás na Gaeltachta on how the work of the LCDP delivery to the Gaeltacht areas can be achieved.

My Department's objective is to have LCDP actions delivered to these areas within the next four weeks. In the majority of cases agreement has now been reached between Pobal and the LDCs on the inclusion and implementation of LCDP actions for their particular Gaeltacht areas. These actions are now included in the LDCs Annual Work Plan for 2012.

In the context of the delivery of the Rural Development Programme (RDP) significant progress has been made and project promoters with fully completed contracts were contacted during the week ending 2 March 2012 with a view to verifying project information in order to facilitate payment of outstanding amounts. Once this verification process is fully complete the LDCs contiguous to the MFG Gaeltacht areas will form part of an interim system of payment in the short term. My Department expects to facilitate payment of verified projects in the coming weeks.

In the context of the delivery of Axes 3 and 4 (LEADER) of the Rural Development Programme in Gaeltacht areas in the longer term my Department is currently examining the submissions received as part of an overall process commenced in March 2012 which requested expressions of interest from established LDCs to deliver the LEADER elements of the RDP in MFG areas for the remainder of the Programming period.

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