Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 December 2021
648. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will reconsider the indicative budget for the next CAP Programme which sees funding for the LEADER Programme 2023-2027 cut to €180 million from the previous programme which ran from 2016-2020 that had a budget of €250 million; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59895/21]
View answerThe budget allocation for the period 2014-2020 for LEADER was €250m for the seven year period.
An additional €70m was made available for LEADER in 2021 and 2022 under the transitional arrangements. A further indicative allocation of €180 million for the LEADER Programme is proposed for the 2023-2027 period under the CAP Strategic Plan. Therefore, the funding over the two seven-year periods is the same, at €250m, and is not a cut as stated in the question.
The allocation is part of the overall allocation of the funding for the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027, and it is not intended to revisit the allocation for LEADER at this point in time.
