Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 October 2012
428. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding a grant application to Mayo North East LEADER Partnership Company Teoranta by an organisation (details supplied) in County Mayo; and when will a payment be made. [44595/12]
View answerMy Department is responsible for ensuring that funding provided through the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme (RDP) is delivered in an efficient and effective way. Systems within the Department involve the checking of projects to ensure that the claimed expenditure is verifiably correct. The claim for reimbursement for the project detailed in the question was selected for inspection by the Inspection Services Division (ISD) of my Department. There were several findings arising from the inspection and as a result of these findings the expenditure was deemed ineligible.
Foxford Development Association subsequently requested a review of this decision in line with the processes currently in place in the Department. This review was conducted in September 2012 and on 10 October 2012 ISD issued a findings letter to Foxford Development Association upholding the original decision and restating its belief that the expenditure included in the claim for payment was ineligible under the rules of the Rural Development Programme.
My Department has a fully operational appeals mechanism and Foxford Development Association have been notified that it is open to them to appeal the review decision within one month of the date of the review notification.
