Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 March 2015
617. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the allocation of Leader funding to the County Cork region is 32.4% less than the previous round of funding; his views on the equitability of this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12740/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra618. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to set out the average of the national allocation of Leader programme funding that County Cork received; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12741/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra620. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government how the criteria of sub-regional areas were applied to the County Cork area given that the population of the Cork county area is twice the population of the Cork city area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12743/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra632. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government how he can defend a cut of over 30% in the Leader funding allocated to County Cork; his views on whether this is fair; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12889/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra633. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to set out the percentage of the national allocation of Leader funding County Cork received; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12890/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra635. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the way the criteria of sub-regional areas were applied to County Cork in view of the fact that there is double the population of Cork city living in the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12892/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 617, 618, 620, 632, 633 and 635 together.
The LEADER element of the Rural Development Programme 2014 - 2020 will provide €250 million in financial resources to rural communities over the next 5 - 6 years. Ireland is reconfiguring the way in which local and rural development interventions are implemented. This is in line with Government policy to ensure that local government is well positioned to support the effective and efficient delivery of local and rural development. In this context, €220 million of the overall programme complement for the 2014-2020 period has been allocated based on administrative or county boundaries to 28 sub-regional areas.
The EU Regulations which govern the Programme state that it is the responsibility of the Member State to “define criteria for the selection of community led local development strategies”. In this context, it was decided to determine county allocations in advance of beginning the LEADER selection process. This approach will enable any entity that wishes to make an application to deliver the LEADER element of the Programme to develop a strategy which is consistent with the funds available for their area. I believe that this process will support the design and development of more robust and implementable strategies.
A further €10 million has been allocated to the cooperation element of the Programme. €15 million has been allocated for the delivery of two agri-food schemes which will be managed jointly by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and my Department. In addition, €5 million is being held in reserve for the purposes of supporting the Rural Economic Development Zones (REDZ) initiative, pending the successful outcome of a Pilot scheme as identified in the report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA).
In view of the size of the Cork County area, excluding the city, and taking into consideration that there are three administrative areas within the County, it was decided that there should be three sub-regional areas for County Cork for the purposes of LEADER.
In determining the county allocations, three objective criteria were used, namely, minimum allocation, population density and a Resource Allocation Model (RAM). Each county was given a minimum allocation of €3 million to ensure that each received a viable level of funding. However, Cork County was allocated €6 million as a minimum in order to ensure a viable allocation to each of the three administrative districts within the county, as the overall population outside of the city is almost twice that of any other county.
As the value of the LEADER element of 2014-2020 Programme is less than the LEADER element of the 2007-2013 Programme, the allocations made on a county basis under the new Programme, including the allocation for Cork, have inevitably reduced. Nevertheless, using the methodology outlined above in relation to the 2014-2020 Programme, which I am satisfied is fair and consistent, Cork has been allocated almost €14 million. This is the highest allocation nationally and is almost €5.5 million or 60% greater than the average county allocation.
