Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 February 2014
85. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of money that will be provided out of the rural development programme for Leader-type actions for the years 2014 to 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5256/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced the rural development programme and the co-funding from the Government, people are anxious to find out the total provision of EU and national money for Leader-type actions for 2015 to 2020. It is technically for 2014 as well but the Minister knows it will be 2015 before we get going.
As the Deputy knows, Ireland has received an allocation from the EU of €2.1 billion for the rural development programme for 2014 to 2020. The EU regulations provide for a 5% minimum allocation for Leader. The Government has decided to increase this to 7% and I welcome this. Therefore, €153 million in EU funding will be available for Leader and this will be co-financed by Exchequer funding.
Ireland is required to submit a draft rural development programme to the European Commission for approval and it is intended that this will be submitted later this year by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which has overall responsibility for the programme. The Leader elements of the programme will primarily address priority six of the Union priorities for rural development: promoting social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development in rural areas. In this context my Department held a stakeholders’ consultation meeting on the Leader elements of the programme on 30 January and will be holding an open public consultation meeting on Thursday, 6 February in Tullamore. These consultations, along with the report of the commission for the economic development of rural areas, which I will publish shortly, will inform the draft Leader programme to be submitted to the European Commission as part of the rural development programme.
The Exchequer co-financing element is currently subject to discussions between my Department, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and following the conclusion of these discussions, I will announce the overall value of the Leader elements of the programme. Following approval by the Commission, my Department will make an open call for submission of local development strategies with a view to allocations being made in the second half of this year and the new Leader programme commencing in early 2015.
Will the Minister tell me how much co-funding is required under the EU regulations, as there are different co-funding rates? Why has co-funding for this programme not been agreed when co-funding for the agricultural elements has been agreed?
The agricultural elements of the programme are very different from the Leader elements. That programme will commence spending this year with the agri-environment options scheme and support for disadvantaged areas, which I am sure the Deputy welcomes. In our case, spend on the current Leader programme will continue into 2015, and as the Deputy noted, the programme spend is not expected to start until 2015.
Will the Minister answer the other part of the question? What is the minimum required co-funding for Leader actions?
I have already indicated that 5% was the minimum requirement and under the announcement by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, 7% is available for funding under the rural development programme. That is €153 million out of the Leader element of the rural development programme. We must negotiate now on a co-funding basis with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for the remainder.
The Minister is missing the point. The 5% figure is the amount of the total fund that must be spent on Leader-type actions. The Minister mentioned 7%, which equates to €153 million.
What are required are different rates of co-funding by the State and European Union. I am sure this is in the Minister's notes. Bearing in mind what we are told by the Minister's colleague regarding the bulk of the funding required, is it a 53%-47% co-funding regime or a 75%-25% co-funding regime? In other words, there is a minimum amount of State co-funding required in each case. What is the required co-funding in regard to Leader?
The European Commission will co-finance the programme up to 80%. If Ireland avails of this rate, the value of the Leader programme will be €191 million. However, if the Leader elements are co-financed in the same way as other elements of the programme, at a ratio of 54%-46%, that would mean a greater amount of money available to Leader, up to €283 million.
