Martin Heydon
Question:17. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the rural regeneration fund; when the next phase will open; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50647/19]
View answerThursday, 5 December 2019
Questions (17)
Written answers
The Rural Regeneration and Development Fund seeks to support ambitious and strategic projects which have the potential to transform rural economies and communities. The Government has committed €1 billion over 10 years to the Fund and €315 million is allocated to the Fund for the period 2019-2022.
The first call for applications to the Fund closed in September 2018. There was a large response to the first call, with 280 applications received under Categories 1 and 2.
Category 1 related to projects with all necessary planning and other consents in place and which were ready to proceed, while Category 2 projects were those which required further development to become ready for Category 1 status.
On foot of the first call, 38 successful Category 1 projects and 46 Category 2 projects were announced, with funding of €86m provided from the Fund to support projects worth €117m.
The second call for Category 1 applications for the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund closed on 6th August 2019. There was an excellent response from across the country and my Department received 69 applications for funding. I announced the successful projects from the second call on the 6th November 2019. 26 projects were approved for funding of €62 million to support projects costing €95 million.
I will be announcing a second call for Category 2 applications - projects which require development support to become ready for Category 1 status - before the end of this year.
The next call for Category 1 applications to the Fund will be announced in early 2020.