The 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 first call for applications to the Fund closed in September 2018. There was a large response to the first call, with 280 applications received under Categories 1 and 2.
Category 1 related to projects with all necessary planning and other consents in place and which were ready to proceed, while Category 2 projects were those which required further development to become ready for Category 1 status.
On foot of the first call, 38 successful Category 1 projects and 46 Category 2 projects were announced, with funding of €86m provided from the Fund to support projects worth €117m.
The second call for Category 1 applications for the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund closed on 6th August 2019. There was an excellent response from across the country and my Department received 69 applications for funding. I announced the successful projects from the second call on the 6th November 2019. 26 projects were approved for funding of €62 million to support projects costing €95 million.
I will be announcing a second call for Category 2 applications - projects which require development support to become ready for Category 1 status - before the end of this year.
The next call for Category 1 applications to the Fund will be announced in early 2020.