The Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 is a co-financed programme with a proportion of the programme coming from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the remainder coming from the National Exchequer. The co-financing rate for the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 is 65% EAFRD and 35% National Exchequer.
The total Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 allocation from the EAFRD was €2.19 billion and the Irish Government decided to allocate 7% of this to LEADER. On that basis the proportion of the EAFRD that is allocated to LEADER in Ireland is €153 million. On the basis of the 65%/35% co-financing rate the Exchequer funding required in order to ensure maximum draw down from the EAFRD is €82.4 million.