Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 October 2021
33. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the measures being taken to ensure that Leader funding will be maintained at the current level as part of Ireland’s Common Agriculture Policy Strategic Plan. [50157/21]
View answerThe LEADER programme is a key intervention implemented by my Department which will help to underpin the Government's rural development goals as outlined in Our Rural Future.
The programme is co-funded by the EU under Pillar II the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is Ireland's Managing Authority for the CAP and thus has lead responsibility for negotiations of the new CAP which is to be introduced from 2023. My officials are engaging extensively with DAFM on the new LEADER programme, including the funding element, to form part of the new CAP Strategic Plan .
It is important to me to maintain a significant level of funding for the LEADER Programme, to ensure it can continue to deliver for rural Ireland. In this regard, I secured an additional €70 million in funding for a Transitional LEADER Programme, which will cover the period to the end of 2022 to ensure that there was no gap between the end of the current Programme and start of the next one.
The allocations of funding across all the new CAP schemes are currently being finalised, and my Department is in ongoing communication with DAFM in relation to this process. It is expected that indicative scheme allocations, including for the next LEADER Programme, will be announced shortly and will form the basis for the next stage of stakeholder consultation.
