Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 October 2022
74. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development when successful applications under the rural regeneration and development fund will be announced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53594/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy question relates to the roll-out of the RRDF. When people made submissions, they were based on submissions they got in at the time. Is the Minister's Department going to take into account the increase that has occurred in the cost of building since the applications were made and by the time the roll-out will occur?
I will give the Deputy an overview of the RRDF first. The fund has to date allocated funding of €280 million for 191 projects nationwide costing over €380 million. Calls for applications to the fund are sought under two categories, namely, category 1 and category 2. Category 1 relates to large-scale ambitious capital projects with all necessary planning and other consents in place, and which are ready to proceed. Category 2 provides smaller grant funding to enable the development of project proposals suitable for future calls for category 1 applications.
My Department has received 42 applications under the fourth call for category 1 applications under the fund. They are seeking funding of over €149 million. The focus of this fourth call is very much on revitalising our towns and villages, and funding infrastructure that can drive economic growth and support communities in rural areas. In order to maximise the quality of the projects being submitted to the fund, the application process is competitive. Applications are assessed against the appraisal scheme published as part of the call for applications.
This process is undertaken by my Department, with the guidance of a project advisory board comprised of representatives from key Departments and independent experts. My Department then prepares a report on the assessment process, setting out projects recommended for funding. Following consideration of that report, I make the final decisions on the projects that will be funded. I expect to conclude this process shortly and make an announcement of successful projects in the coming weeks. There are some really transformational projects in line for funding that will have a big impact on towns and villages right across the country.
The Deputy asked about funding shortfalls. Projects that emerge as successful from calls for applications to the fund are initially approved in principle before progressing through a further comprehensive approval process. This review always includes an assessment by an independent quantity surveyor. I can give more details of that presently if the Deputy so wishes.
The Minister said she will make an announcement on the successful applications within the next few weeks. It is important that the funding be rolled out at the earliest possible date because costs continue to rise. A large number of applicants are waiting for decisions as to whether they have been successful. In fairness to every group that makes a submission to the scheme, its agenda is to provide facilities for communities and, in many cases, deliver a whole regeneration that will assist those communities. Do we need to revisit this scheme to ensure unsuccessful projects can in some way be accommodated in the not-too-distant future?
The whole purpose of category 2 funding is to help people to prepare projects for category 1 funding, which is for big multimillion euro projects. The cost of construction has gone up. We employ a quantity surveyor as part of the assessment, which is important to ensure the costs and contingencies have been included by the lead party for the project. In line with best practice in project management, all applicants to the fund are asked to put in a contingency budget at a level appropriate for the type of project being undertaken. A carefully calculated contingency budget will meet many of the challenges people face in terms of cost overruns.
Notwithstanding this, it is open to project lead parties to make a case to the Department for additional funding if the cost of an approved project significantly increases after the procurement process is completed. Many leaders have said to me that after they went to procurement, the project ended up costing a lot more than they thought it would. If that is the case, they can make a detailed justification as to why they need more money. We certainly are not in the business of holding people back from developing good projects for their communities.
The Minister mentioned the roll-out of the LEADER programme, which she announced this morning. It is very welcome that she has increased the funding for County Cork. She also announced funding for community centres, which will be extremely beneficial to communities. I hope the new programme can be rolled out at the earliest possible date in order that groups can get on with the projects and deliver them in a timely manner.
The Deputy will be glad to hear the LEADER programme allocation for Cork is almost €21 million, up from €13.9 million under the previous programme. This is a 50% increase and the highest allocation in the country for the biggest county in the country. We assess applications on population and deprivation. Some counties get more funding than others based on that. There may be a smaller population but greater deprivation.
My focus now is on delivery. As I said, the selection process is open and all the details are available on the Department's website. Interested parties have until 16 December to put in their expressions of interest. I would tell them to get to it. As far as I am concerned, the ball has been thrown in, the funding is there and it is up to groups to get their bids in and deliver their projects. It is a great programme. I advise applicants to work collaboratively because when we work together, we get better results. That is all I have to say.
