Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
2623. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if additional funding will be provided for the LEADER programme in County Kerry in view of the demand for funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33251/19]
View answerThe total amount of funding allocated to County Kerry for the duration of the 2014-2020 LEADER programme is in excess of €10.2 million, which includes administration and project funding.
The project allocation for the Kerry region is €7,650,904 and the Local Action Group (LAG) is making good progress in delivering the programme. To date, 252 projects have been approved for funding of €5,313,233 which represents almost 70% of their available project budget. A further 24 project applications requesting €897,250 are at various stages in the approval process.
There is a growing demand for more LEADER funding to be made available in a number of areas, including County Kerry. In this regard, I was very pleased to announce recently that an additional €5 million will be shared between the LAGs that are most advanced in delivering the LEADER programme. The LAGs to benefit from this additional funding will be determined based on their level of project approvals and their level of project expenditure on 20 September 2019. The successful LAGs will be announced shortly thereafter.
