Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 12 Dec 2000

Vol. 528 No. 1

Written Answers. - Leader Programmes.

John Browne

Ceist:

145 Mr. Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number of Leader boards; the number of Leader boards covering one county only; the number of counties that are catered for by more than one Leader board with the names of the counties that have from two to five Leader boards; the number of Leader boards with a catchment area of less than 40,000 people; the number of Leader boards that have more than 100,000 people in the catchment area; and if local development is to be re-organised on a county basis. [29531/00]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (Mr. Walsh)

Thirty-seven Leader boards, 34 local action groups and three collective bodies, are operating the current Leader II programme now in its concluding stage. Some 13 Leader boards cover one county only. Eight counties – Cork, Donegal, Kerry, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo and Tipperary – are catered for by more than one Leader board, that is, between two and five Leader boards. In addition there are two groups catering for islands and Gaeltacht areas. According to 1996 census data, the number of Leader groups with catchment areas of less than 40,000 people is six while eight groups cater for populations in excess of 100,000 people.

The task force on the integration of local government and local development systems, whose recommendations were endorsed by Government, recommended,inter alia, that the county-city unit was to be the basic structure for local delivery arrangements. The report recognises that the bottom up nature of Leader may involve groups that cross county boundaries. The EU Commission requirements for Leader+ indicate that groups must be bottom up in nature and that artificial divisions of local areas will not be accepted.

A cross-Department group in which my Department participates is overseeing the implementation of the task force report. Leader groups are participating fully in the county development boards – CDBs – established under the task force and groups appointed under the new Leader arrangements will also be required to participate. This entire process will, in line with Government policy, bring a greater coherence to local delivery arrangements including the Leader programmes.