Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2024
774. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the funding, if any, that has been applied for to mark and celebrate Ernest Shackleton's 150th anniversary around Ireland; if not applied for, what funding might exist through her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16489/24]
View answerMy Department has not received an application to mark and celebrate Ernest Shackleton’s 150th anniversary under any of the schemes or programmes it operates. However, support may be available, depending on the nature of the proposed activity, from the LEADER programme.
The 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. It supports a broad range of activities which aim to respond to the diversity of the local needs of our rural areas.
It is delivered through Local Action Groups (LAGs) across rural Ireland. A feature of the LEADER programme is that it is based on a community-led, bottom-up approach to rural development.
Funding under the 2023-2027 LEADER programme is focused on a thematic approach to rural development under the headings of Economic Development and Job Creation, Rural Infrastructure and Social Inclusion, Sustainable Development of the Rural Environment and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.
In order for a project to be eligible for LEADER funding, it must be compatible with the actions outlined in the approved Local Development Strategy in the sub-regional area concerned, and it must comply with the Operating Rules and EU Regulations in place for the programme.
Prospective applicants should, in the first instance, contact their relevant LAG, through its Implementing Partner, to discuss the eligibility of the project and the funding that may be available. Contact details for all LAGs are available on my Department’s website at www.gov.ie.
