Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 March 2015
614. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will review the cuts to funding for the next round of the Leader programme through to 2020; and if consideration will be given to the implementation of a parallel line of Government funding to compensate local communities across the State for this serious financial loss. [12734/15]
View answer615. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the reason he and his Department came to the decision to allocate Leader programme funding on a county basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12738/15]
View answer616. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide in tabular form the allocation under the Leader rural development programme for 2014 to 2020 to each county that he and his Department made; and the way it compares to the allocation in the previous Leader round of funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12739/15]
View answer619. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the rationale of using and allocating funding to a sub-regional area; the extra areas that received funding under this category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12742/15]
View answer622. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if a cost benefit analysis was carried out on the impact the new allocation of Leader funding will have in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12745/15]
View answer630. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the reasons behind the decision to allocate Leader funding on a county basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12887/15]
View answer631. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide in tabular form the allocations to each county under the Leader regional development programme 2014 to 2020; how this compares to the allocation under the previous round of Leader funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12888/15]
View answer634. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the rationale behind the decision to allocate funding to sub-regional areas; the specific areas that received funding under this category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12891/15]
View answer637. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department carried out a cost benefit analysis on the impact the new allocation of Leader funding will have in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12894/15]
View answer683. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider the establishment of a national rural development programme and the concerns raised regarding the rural development Leader programme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13415/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 614 to 616, inclusive, 619, 622, 630, 631, 634, 637 and 683 together.
The LEADER element of the Rural Development Programme 2014–2020, will provide €250 million in financial resources to support the development of sustainable rural communities. Ireland is reconfiguring the way in which local and rural development interventions are implemented. This is in line with Government policy to ensure that local government is well positioned to support the effective and efficient delivery of local and rural development. In this context, €220 million of the overall programme complement for the 2014-2020 period has been allocated based on administrative or county boundaries to 28 sub-regional areas.
The EU Regulations which govern the Programme state that it is the responsibility of the Member State to “ define criteria for the selection of community led local development strategies”. In this context, it was decided to determine county allocations in advance of beginning the LEADER selection process. This approach will enable any entity that wishes to make an application to deliver the LEADER element of the Programme to develop a strategy which is consistent with the funds available for their area. I believe that this process will support the design and development of more robust and implementable strategies.
A further €10 million has been allocated to the cooperation element of the Programme. €15 million has been allocated for the delivery of two agri-food schemes which will be managed jointly by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and my Department. In addition, €5 million is being held in reserve for the purposes of supporting the Rural Economic Development Zones (REDZ) initiative, pending the successful outcome of a Pilot scheme as identified in the report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA).
In determining the county allocations, three objective criteria were used, namely, minimum allocation, population density and a Resource Allocation Model (RAM). Each county was given a minimum allocation of €3 million to ensure that each received a viable allocation. However, Cork County was allocated €6 million as a minimum in order to ensure a viable allocation to each of the three administrative districts within the county, as the overall population outside of the city is almost twice that of any other county. While a specific cost benefit analysis was not conducted, the methodology used to calculate the allocations was designed to ensure that the available funding was weighted towards the most rural populations and those experiencing most rural disadvantage.
Using this methodology, which I am satisfied is fair and consistent, each county was allocated a proportionate share of the funding available through the LEADER elements of the RDP. Cork has been allocated almost €14 million under the Programme. This is the highest allocation nationally and is almost €5.5 million or 60% greater than the average county allocation.
While the allocation for the LEADER element of the 2014-2020 Programme is less than the value of the LEADER element of 2007 – 2013 programme, I am confident that within the confines of the fiscal environment we have experienced in the recent past, the Government has allocated the maximum amount possible to support the LEADER elements of the 2014-2020 programme. This funding, coupled with the Government’s drive to increase coordination at a local level and the commitment to the delivery of the recommendations in the CEDRA report, will ensure that the impact of the funding, while decreased, will be maximised to support the sustainable development of our rural communities.
LEADER funding for the 2007-2013 programming period was not allocated based on county boundaries but to individual Local Action Groups on completion of the Local Development Strategy process. In addition to this, the allocations changed in 2012 when the EU co-financing rate changed due to the financial crisis and this resulted in a decrease in the overall programme allocation. Table 1 details the initial allocations for each Local Action Group for the 2007-2013 programme period as well as the 2013 revised allocations. Table 2 details the county allocations for the 2014-2020 programme period as announced on 10 March 2015.
Table 1
|
Local Action Group |
Original Allocation |
Revised Allocation |
|
Avondhu Blackwater Partnership Ltd. |
€9,057,810 |
€7,563,093 |
|
Ballyhoura Development Ltd. |
€11,673,519 |
€18,832,677 |
|
Carlow County Development Partnership Ltd |
€8,878,177 |
€7,619,278 |
|
Cavan-Monaghan LEADER |
€12,035,118 |
€ 10,235,403 |
|
Cill Dara Ar Aghaidh Teo |
€12,282,448 |
€ 10,642,073 |
|
Clare Local Development Company Ltd. |
€14,028,529 |
€ 16,175,841 |
|
Co Kilkenny LEADER Partnership |
€11,523,729 |
€ 13,587,910 |
|
Co Wicklow Community Partnership |
€11,135,560 |
€ 9,128,172 |
|
Co. Sligo LEADER Partnership Company Ltd |
€10,888,673 |
€ 9,791,787 |
|
Comhar na nOileáin Teoranta |
€4,642,415 |
€ 7,218,571 |
|
Donegal Local Development Company |
€12,831901 |
€12,693,035 |
|
Fingal LEADER Partnership Co. |
€7,766,780 |
€ 6,488,129 |
|
FORUM Connemara Ltd. |
€9,668,965 |
€ 7,925,982 |
|
Galway Rural Development Company |
€15,257,985 |
€ 12,512,676 |
|
Inishowen Development Partnership |
€8,286,143 |
€ 7,410,663 |
|
IRD Duhallow Ltd. |
€10,315,943 |
€ 12,852,160 |
|
Laois Community and Enterprise Dev |
€10,993,608 |
€ 9,564,731 |
|
Leitrim Integrated Development Co Ltd |
€10,845,497 |
€ 10,332,659 |
|
Longford Community Resources Ltd |
€8,714,110 |
€ 7,198,679 |
|
Louth LEADER Partnership |
€8,839,815 |
€ 7,265,162 |
|
Mayo North East LEADER Partnership Co. |
€10,751,894 |
€ 9,663,562 |
|
Meath Community Rural and Social Dev. |
€12,748,771 |
€ 15,139,043 |
|
North East Kerry LEADER Partnership Teo |
€10,558,882 |
€ 9,267,641 |
|
North Tipperary LEADER Partnership |
€9,708,008 |
€ 12,917,884 |
|
Offaly Integrated Local Dev Co. Ltd. |
€11,520,489 |
€ 10,856,445 |
|
Roscommon Integrated Development Company |
€12,838,021 |
€ 11,230,957 |
|
South and East Cork Area Dev Ltd. |
€10,641,494 |
€ 10,600,928 |
|
South Kerry Development Ltd. |
€12,370,667 |
€ 10,341,450 |
|
South Tipperary Local Development Co Ltd |
€11,106,187 |
€ 12,515,649 |
|
South West Mayo Development Company Ltd |
€12,150,007 |
€ 10,820,318 |
|
Waterford LEADER Partnership Ltd. |
€10,558,519 |
€ 11,486,013 |
|
West Cork Development Partnership Ltd. |
€14,601,149 |
€ 13,481,280 |
|
West Limerick Resources Ltd |
€9,997,751 |
€ 9,091,221 |
|
Westmeath Community Development Ltd |
€10,987,060 |
€ 9,015,451 |
|
Wexford Local Development |
€12,515,565 |
€ 11,919,814 |
|
Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta* |
€17,278,809 |
€ 3,371,751 |
|
Overall Total |
€399,999,998 |
376,758,090 |
*Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta (MFG) went into liquidation in 2012.
Table 2
LEADER Allocations 2014-2020
|
Sub Regional Area |
Programme Allocation |
|
Rural Dublin |
€6,370,438.43 |
|
Kildare |
€5,261,600.01 |
|
Meath |
€6,903,123.57 |
|
Wicklow |
€6,336,549.00 |
|
Carlow |
€6,416,803.43 |
|
Kilkenny |
€7,791,572.91 |
|
Wexford |
€9,840,140.56 |
|
Tipperary |
€10,103,443.28 |
|
County Waterford |
€7,522,796.18 |
|
County Cork |
€13,938,823.22 |
|
Kerry |
€10,219,868.29 |
|
Clare |
€8,920,224.65 |
|
County Limerick |
€9,276,593.96 |
|
County Galway |
€12,195,883.61 |
|
Mayo |
€11,121,431.88 |
|
Roscommon |
€8,852,659.22 |
|
Louth |
€6,101,862.01 |
|
Leitrim |
€5,998,474.74 |
|
Sligo |
€7,655,647.81 |
|
Cavan |
€8,522,285.84 |
|
Donegal |
€12,913,877.86 |
|
Monaghan |
€7,592,719.51 |
|
Laois |
€7,124,586.86 |
|
Longford |
€7,597,623.07 |
|
Offaly |
€8,036,763.90 |
|
Westmeath |
€7,384,206.22 |
|
Total |
€220,000,000.00 |
