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Rural Development Programme Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 February 2013

Tuesday, 5 February 2013

Questions (566)

Paul Connaughton

Question:

566. Deputy Paul J. Connaughton asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when Leader groups will receive clarity on the budgets available to them under the various strands in 2013 as many community groups are experiencing delays in terms of grant applications as a result of this delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5337/13]

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Written answers

In late 2011 the European Commission approved a change in co-funding rates for Rural Development Programmes (RDP) for countries that were part of the Financial Stabilisation Mechanism. This resulted in an increase in the EU co-financing rate from 55% to 85% for Ireland under Axes 3 and 4 elements of the RDP which came into effect on 1 January 2012.

The change involves an increase in the co-financing rate to 85% for 2012 and 2013, without a concomitant increase in the amount of funding to be provided by the EU. This resulted in a decrease in the overall funding available to the programme from an original €427 million to an estimated €314 million (€252 million of which is estimated to be the project allocation) and also a readjustment of the levels of funding available under each of the RDP measures.

The new co-financing rate applies to expenditure incurred in 2012 and 2013 only and the estimated programme complement of €314 million has been calculated on that basis. From 1 of January 2014 the co-financing rate will revert to 55% rate for any remaining unspent funding, which will necessitate a further revision of the programme complement at that time. On the basis of extrapolations from the annual levels of expenditure to date it is estimated that the final programme complement will be approximately €370 million.

In this context my Department is currently reviewing the levels of commitment and expenditure under each of the various measures of the RDP fully to assess the level of funding that remains for the various measures. This review will be completed by the end of February, and it has required Local Development Companies to suspend their board approvals process for a short time only. This is necessary to ensure that each measure under the programme has the funding required to address eligible requests received by rural communities all over Ireland. In this context this exercise is critical and it will be completed in the shortest possible timeframe.

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