Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023
1448. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she is carrying out a review of the funding allocated to Galway under the Leader Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47362/23]
View answerThe LEADER Programme is a key intervention of Our Rural Future, the Government’s Policy for rural development, which aims to deliver a range of actions to rural communities over the lifetime of the policy.
€250m has been made available for the LEADER programme for the period 2021 to 2027. This is comprised of €70 million for the transitional period 2021 to 2022 and an additional €180 million from 2023 to 2027, thus maintaining the level of funding provided for the 2014-2020 programming period. This funding has been allocated to each of the sub-regional areas which are, for the main part, aligned with the county boundaries. The methodology to distribute the funding used a baseline allocation together with an allocation based on the population density and the level of deprivation in each sub-regional area. There are no proposals to revise these allocations.
County Galway has been allocated €12,628,253 in funding for the programming period 2021-2027, which is an increase of 3.55% over the previous seven-year period.
I am confident that the level of funding allocated for the 2021-2027 programming period is sufficient to meet the demand for grant funding from rural communities and businesses and to continue the effective operation of the LEADER programme.
