Vol. 470 No. 1
279 Mr. Bree asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if the audited accounts of the Leader companies involved in the Leader 1 programme are available for public inspection; if he has satisfied himself that the programme was operated in compliance with the regulations laid down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18298/96]
Audited annual accounts were lodged with my Department by the groups involved in the Leader 1 Programme. However, these are not available for public inspection at my Department. While the agreement for the implementation of the programme with one of the groups originally selected was terminated by my Department in February 1993, in general the Leader 1 Programme was operated in compliance with the regulations laid down. Some 3,200 projects were grant aided by the approved groups, a very small proportion of which were aided under the terms of a flexibility clause contained in the guidelines laid down by my Department. This clause provided groups with some discretion to aid local projects which would not normally qualify for aid, by references to local circumstances.
