Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 April 2019
71. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the review of the CLÁR programme; the take-up and drawdown in funding to date since it was re-established; and the status of the drawdown in funding to date of the town and village renewal scheme since established. [15472/19]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the CLÁR programme supports communities in rural areas which have experienced significant levels of depopulation. I reopened the programme in 2016, following its closure in 2010 for new applications.
The areas included in the CLÁR programme since 2016 were based on an analysis of the 2002 Census data by the NIRSA Institute at Maynooth University. It is timely that the data should now be reviewed to ensure that we are continuing to support the areas in most need under the CLÁR programme.
I therefore commenced a review of the programme in November 2018 to examine CLÁR areas by reference to the 2016 Census of Population data. The process began with a targeted consultation meeting with a number of experts who are recognised for their background in rural development, to provide some guidance on the matter. My Department has been exploring the possibility of the NIRSA Institute carrying out work on the 2016 Census data.
Since I re-opened CLÁR in 2016, over 1,200 projects have been funded under the programme and the drawdown in funding to date is €22.759 million. Details of all approved projects are available on my Department's website.
The Town and Village Renewal Scheme was introduced in the second half of 2016. Since then, €53 million has been allocated to over 670 projects across the country, and approximately €24.5 million in funding has been drawn down.
It should be noted that projects under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme can typically take 12 to 18 months to complete and, since 2017, final payments are made only when projects have been completed.
