Departmental Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 December 2021

Thursday, 9 December 2021

Questions (29)

Marian Harkin

Question:

29. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will commit to providing a sustainable budget of €389 million for the Leader Programme 2023-2027 to drive bottom-up, community-led investment to create and sustain employment in rural Ireland and provide funding in the rural environment and support climate change mitigation initiatives in rural communities in addition to the identified high-level ambitions of Leader 2023-2027 outlined in the draft CAP strategic plan. [60753/21]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The budget allocation for LEADER under the previous Rural Development Programme (RDP) for the seven-year period 2014-2020 was €250 million.

An additional €70 million was made available for LEADER in 2021 and 2022 under the transitional arrangements that extended the application of the RDP. 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 total funding for the seven-year period 2021-2027, at €250 million, will be the same as for the period 2014-2020.

The allocation for LEADER is part of the overall allocation of funding for the entire CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027, and it is not intended to revisit these allocations at this point in time.