Marian Harkin
Question:51. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the arrangements that are being put in place to ensure an effective LEADER programme from 2023. [60566/21]
View answerTuesday, 7 December 2021
Questions (51)
Oral answers (8 contributions)
What financial arrangements are being put in place to ensure an effective LEADER programme that delivers for communities? I have heard the Minister's responses this evening and last week and have received her written response regarding the six-year tranche of funding of €250 million, about which she is quite correct. This level of funding, however, is at a standstill compared with the previous funding period and is a cut of more than 40% from the 2007 allocations. Taking inflation into account, the cut is 50%. Will the Minister revisit this?
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As she will be aware, the LEADER programme is one of the key interventions of Our Rural Future, the Government’s policy for rural development launched earlier this year. An indicative budget of €180 million was recently announced for the LEADER programme for the period 2023 to 2027. When taken together with the €70 million already provided for 2021 and 2022 under the transitional LEADER programme, a total of €250 million will be made available, thus maintaining the level of funding provided for the 2014 to 2020 programme period. The maintenance of the €250 million funding allocation will underpin the continued contribution of the LEADER approach in delivering on the Government’s vision for rural Ireland.
Preparations for the design and delivery of the next LEADER programme from 2023 to 2027 are well under way. My Department has commissioned an independent review of the current programme, which is nearing completion. This review will draw on the experience of all stakeholders in the 2014 to 2020 LEADER programme and help to underpin effective scheme design for the new LEADER programme. My officials are also engaging with stakeholders on an ongoing basis regarding the design of the next LEADER programme. They are also working closely with colleagues from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the EU Commission in developing the next CAP strategic plan from 2023 to 2027, of which LEADER will form part. The ongoing engagement and consultation with stakeholders, combined with the funding allocation indicated, will ensure the LEADER programme from 2023 will continue to support and further develop our rural communities and businesses.
It is important to say there is unprecedented investment in rural Ireland through all our other schemes. When comparing different periods, if you go back to 2007 to 2013, we did not have all these other funding schemes we now have that are providing investment in rural Ireland.
The Minister and I agree that the LEADER programme supports community-led local development. It is unique. As an MEP, I was proud to see an EU Court of Auditors report in 2010 stating the Irish model was best practice. What has happened since then is we have significantly minimised the active role of the local community in the context of decision-making regarding funding decisions for LEADER, with the exception of a few independent LEADER companies, and we have cut the funding. I agree with the Minister on the funding figures but in my constituency the reality is, if we take inflation into account, which is not high at only 10% since 2007, there is a 28% cut in Sligo and Roscommon and a 47% cut in Leitrim since 2007. Yes, Leitrim Development Company, Roscommon LEADER Partnership and Sligo LEADER Partnership do great work, but these cuts mean they have to cut back on supports and resources for their local communities.
It is important to say that when LEADER was introduced, many years ago, it was the only show in town for funding projects in rural Ireland. That is no longer the case. We have a whole swathe of funding streams to support rural communities. In my Department, we have the rural regeneration and development fund, the town and village renewal scheme and the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme. Many of those schemes offer higher grant aid than that available under LEADER. We also have specific funding streams to support social enterprises. Only yesterday, I was pleased to announce funding for more than 200 social enterprise projects. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment runs the regional enterprise development fund. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has a range of schemes to support climate action. LEADER complements all those programmes but it would be wrong to try to portray that it was the only support for rural communities, which the Deputy will acknowledge.
The €70 million transition funding will be over two years. A number of allocations have been made from it, but an average of 33% has been allocated to date out of that €70 million.
The Minister is quite correct. LEADER is not the only show in town but it is the only one that is community led. I will come back to what the Minister asks LEADER companies to deliver in their transition programmes. The Minister asks them to support rural business, especially in the context of innovation, diversification, Covid and Brexit. That is crucial in Border counties. LEADER companies are asked to look at ensuring adequate resources not just for the companies themselves but for the LEADER companies that will develop and deliver those programmes. The Minister asks that they support innovative projects in the areas of climate change and the green economy and, quite rightly, that they maximise the potential of the digital economy, all of which are excellent initiatives. I again ask the Minister to look at the level of resources provided and to please ensure a sustainable, effective and adequately funded LEADER programme.
I believe that the LEADER programme is adequately funded. LEADER complements all the other funding programmes. It is about people working together. That is where we get the results. The Deputy mentioned the Border. Not alone do we have the regional enterprise development fund, we have the Border enterprise development fund, which is specifically for the Border region because of the impacts of Brexit. That is run by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The local enterprise offices do great work with businesses. We want to see joined-up thinking between LEADER, the local authorities, the local enterprise offices, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, who should all work together. At the end of the day, we want to see more jobs and more investment through different schemes in rural Ireland.
Sligo local action group, LAG, which was mentioned by the Deputy, was allocated €2.2 million under the transitional programme, of which nearly €1.7 million will be allocated for new projects. To date, Sligo LAG has allocated approximately 29% or almost €500,000. To be fair, we are halfway through this, so we would like to see it at the 50% mark towards the end of this year, but it is doing okay at 29%, which is about the average. Some LEADER programmes are looking for more money but have only spent a fraction of what they have got already.
That is another issue.
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