Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 September 2022
124. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the timeframe for the commencement of the Leader programme; and if there will be scope for local development companies to administer other programmes, given the shortfall of funding. [45153/22]
View answerI was delighted to welcome the recent announcement that the European Commission has confirmed their approval of Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan for 2023-2027, which includes the LEADER programme. This approval is a key step in the delivery of the next LEADER programme.
A number of further steps will now be completed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in advance of bringing the CAP Plan to Government for final approval in the coming weeks.
My Department’s focus now is to finalise the design of the new LEADER programme in conjunction with key stakeholders.
The process to select the Local Action Groups to implement the new programme which will be open, transparent and competitive and will be conducted over two stages. I hope to confirm full details of this process shortly.
The first stage will be an Expression of Interest by eligible groups followed by a more detailed stage which will see them develop their LEADER strategies. All groups that are successful in Stage 1 will be provided with funding to assist with the costs associated with developing a Local Development Strategy in Stage 2 of the process. This is a much more detailed stage, with some 6 months being provided for strategy development. A fund of €2 million has been ring-fenced for this purpose.
Local development companies currently administer a number of Government funded programmes including LEADER which can generate funding revenue for the company. It is open to LDCs to apply to deliver programmes as they are advertised. A local development company that is involved in the delivery of the new LEADER programme following the conclusion of the competitive selection process will continue to be eligible to deliver other funding programmes as is currently the case. I have also recently confirmed that additional Exchequer funding for administration costs associated with LEADER delivery will be available again in 2023 where existing funding is fully utilised.
It is now important that the key public and private stakeholders in communities across Ireland come together in partnership to deliver a LEADER programme that will build on the fantastic success of the programme over the last 30 years and to ensure that LEADER continues to play a central role in supporting rural communities into the future.
