Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
44. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the funding allocated to his Department in 2017; the amount that was spent in 2017; the amount that has been carried forward to 2018; the amount surrendered to the Exchequer at the end of 2017; the amount paid to local authorities in 2016 and 2017 that has not been spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1841/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAll last year, I asked the then Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, and subsequently the new Department of Rural and Community Development, about the level of underspend in this area. I kept predicting a significant underspend by the end of the year and the Minister and his colleagues kept telling me that this was not going to occur. Despite the Minister's best efforts at the very end of the year - a late run with the local improvement scheme got rid of €17 million, and fair play to the Minister for that - the Department, which has a total budget of approximately €160 million, wound up with an underspend of €19 million. How can the Minister explain and account for such bad mismanagement of the Department's money?
I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of funding in my Department. I am committed to working with stakeholders, particularly local authorities, to provide vital services to communities throughout the State. This involves fully using the funding that is provided. The total amount of capital funding allocated to my Department in 2017 was approximately €77 million. This was accompanied by current funding of approximately €85.7 million. The total gross spend in 2017 was €136 million.
Sanction was sought and received from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to carry over €7.7 million in capital funding into 2018. Gross capital underspend of €18.3 million was reduced by the capital carryover of €7.7 million, resulting in the surrender of €10.6 million. The capital carryover will supplement capital expenditure in 2018.
In line with Leader programmes in other EU member states, there has been a lead-in period in ramping up and implementing the 2014-2020 Leader programme. The level of Leader activity in Ireland has increased greatly in recent months. I expect the level of expenditure to grow rapidly in 2018.
A number of other schemes, including the rural economic development zone scheme, the town and village renewal scheme, the outdoor rural recreation infrastructure scheme, the CLÁR programme and the local improvement scheme, provide support to local authorities for the development of rural communities.
My Department has requested updated expenditure information with regard to 2016 funding from individual local authorities. I expect that information to be available by the end of January.
Of the total amount of €28.4 million disbursed, approximately €18.6 million had been spent by October 2017. My Department is continuing to work closely with all relevant local authorities to ensure any remaining funding allocated to them is spent promptly and in accordance with the original project proposals.
In 2017, approximately €23 million in funding under these schemes was disbursed to local authorities subject to a number of drawdown conditions. In the case of the local improvement schemes, funding could be drawn down once it had been confirmed by a local authority that 50% of its works had been completed and that all works would be fully completed by 31 December 2017.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
In the case of the outdoor rural recreation infrastructure scheme, town and village renewal scheme and the CLÁR programme, local authorities were required to spend at least 20% of the total project cost before the first tranche payment of 50% of their allocation under the respective scheme could be drawn down. The balance of funding will only be paid on full completion of the projects in question.
The Revised Estimate for Public Services 2018 provides for gross expenditure of €239.2 million, comprising €144 million for current expenditure and €95.2 million for capital expenditure, including the €7.7 million carryover, in respect of the Department of Rural and Community Development. The large increase in current expenditure takes into account provision from the community services programme, which transferred at the beginning of this year to my Department from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.
My Department will continue to work with key stakeholders, including local authorities, community and voluntary groups and key agencies, to support job creation, attract tourism investment and contribute to long-term economic development in rural Ireland. It will ensure full use is obtained from the resources allocated and value for money is delivered in respect of the 2018 allocation.
I understand €10 million on the capital side and €8 million on the current side that could have been spent on the ground in rural areas has been handed back to the Exchequer. Will the Minister explain how he managed to underspend the current allocation in the Department? Will he also confirm loud and clear that €10 million paid out to local authorities more than a year ago has not been spent on the ground? This seems to be a case of gross mismanagement. When one adds the €73 million the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine failed to spend last year, one finds that rural Ireland has been cheated of approximately €100 million.
Will the Minister explain what he intends to do to ensure this underspend does not reoccur? Not only does he have funding from last year available to him, but he also has a sum of €7.5 million that was brought forward available to him. On what will he spend the €7.5 million?
Deputy Ó Cuív forewarned me earlier in the year. I have been in the Department for six months.
He was a Minister of State in the Department before his appointment as Minister.
No, I was not the overall Minister. I believe I did brilliantly with respect to the Leader programme.
The Minister is starting to sound like Leo.
If the Deputy looks at the underspend in the Leader programme and local authorities, he will see that I provided the funding. Deputy Ó Cuív is always quick to point out the inadequacies of my stewardship as Minister but he has a short memory. I can go back over underspends if the Deputy wishes to discuss them. In 2008, the Department of which the Deputy was Minister handed back €35 million to the Department of Finance. It then handed back €38 million to the Department in 2010 when he was a Minister for a full year. I have only been a Minister for six months. In fairness to the Deputy, he forewarned me.
I have introduced a number of schemes and I am very proud of the local improvement scheme. The Deputy's constituents were glad to receive some funding under the scheme. I was glad to be able to ensure the overspend in the Department was not greater. Will the Deputy explain how he allowed underspends of €35 million and €38 million to arise when he was Minister?
The Minister is wrong. I was not in the Department in 2010. He may remember that I was in the Department of Social Protection in 2010.
The Deputy was finishing up in the Department.
I was not finishing up; I left the Department in 2010. I will answer the Minister's question on the underspend in 2008 as he appears to believe he is asking the questions today. I could have taken the net knowing that the appropriations-in-aid cannot be spent but did not do so. That is what happened in 2008 and the Minister should check the facts. He is very quick to play games with this issue but he had money which he did not spend. I warned in January that this would happen. On what will he spend the additional €7.5 million his Department has carried forward?
As I said, the Deputy forewarned me last year. Please God, I will be in the Department for the coming year. I guarantee the Deputy that he will not ask me questions about an underspend next year. I considered the option of pre-paying the local authorities again but I did not believe it would be wise to do so given all the questions the Deputy was asking. He was probably correct because I was not happy with the way in which the local authorities were spending the funding they received. I will examine this issue, however.
To give the Deputy a straight answer, I am looking at ways and means to spend the money, including through Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Leader companies and other State agencies that may be able to disburse it on our behalf. The local authorities do not have to progress local improvement schemes or outdoor recreation schemes. I provided funding to Waterways Ireland for a number of schemes which were tremendously successful. The agency received money in February or March and delivered projects in October, which local authorities were unable to do. I will monitor the position to ensure there is no underspend next year. I will give the Deputy a guarantee on that.
