Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 October 2019
17. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if counties Laois and Offaly will receive a fair share of funding in the next round of rural regeneration and development funding. [43660/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Rural Regeneration and Development Fund seeks to support ambitious and strategic projects which have the potential to transform rural economies and communities. The Government has committed €1 billion over 10 years to the Fund and €315 million is allocated to the Fund for the period 2019-2022.
The second call for Category 1 applications for the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund closed on 6 August 2019. Category 1 projects are projects which have all necessary planning and other consents in place and are ready to proceed. There was an excellent response from across the country and my Department received 69 applications for funding.
I understand that three of the applications submitted were located in County Offaly and two in County Laois.
It should be noted that calls for applications to the Fund are competitive in nature, once all requirements are met, and that no project or county is prioritised for funding.
My Department is currently finalising the assessment process in relation to the applications, carried out in conjunction with the Project Advisory Board for the Fund, which is comprised of representatives from key Government Departments and independent experts.
My Department will prepare a report detailing the outcome of that process and my role as Minister will be to consider that report and make final decisions in relation to the allocation of funding. In that regard, I expect to be in a position to announce the successful Category 1 projects from the second call shortly.
