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Leader Programmes Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 February 2014

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

Questions (365)

Pat Deering

Question:

365. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when he will announce the next round of Leader funding for 2014-20; the total amount available; and if co-funding will be set at the corresponding 46% announced recently for other Pillar 2 moneys. [6770/14]

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Written answers

Ireland has received an allocation from the EU of € 2.1 billion for the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (RDP). The EU Regulations provide for a 5% minimum allocation for LEADER. The Government has decided to increase this to 7% and I welcome this. Therefore €153 million in EU funding will be available for LEADER and this will be co-financed by Exchequer funding.

Ireland is required to submit a draft RDP to the European Commission for approval and it is intended that this will be submitted later this year by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine which has overall responsibility for the programme.

The LEADER elements of the programme will primarily address Priority 6 of the Union priorities for rural development; that is, promoting social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development in rural areas. In this context my Department held a stakeholders' consultation meeting on the LEADER elements of the programme on 30 January and an open public consultation meeting on 6 February in Tullamore. These consultations along with the report of the Commission on the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA), which I will publish shortly, will inform the draft LEADER programme to be submitted to the European Commission as part of the RDP.

The Exchequer co-financing element is currently subject to discussions between my Department, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and following conclusion of these discussions, I will announce the overall value of the LEADER elements of the Programme.

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