Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
61. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development to clarify how a rural, sparsely populated area within an illegible electoral division, adjacent to an already-eligible electoral division, can apply to be covered by the next Leader Programme. [41375/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe LEADER programme, a key intervention of Our Rural Future, promotes a community-led approach that involves the participation of local communities in developing responses to key economic, environmental and social challenges. Using this approach LEADER emphasises the centrality of rural communities to the programme.
The programme is delivered by Local Action Groups in 28 sub-regional areas across rural Ireland. The Groups, who have applied to deliver the 2023-2027 LEADER Programme, were required to identify initiatives in their Local Development Strategy to address the challenges in their area. In developing these Local Development Strategies, the Groups encouraged participation by all parties who wished to contribute to this process to ensure that each Strategy is representative of local community needs.
It was a matter for the applicant Groups to outline and identify in their strategy the electoral areas they proposed to focus on for the 2023-2027 Programme, based on the consultations they had undertaken. All eligible applicant Groups submitted their strategies in July 2023 and these are currently being assessed.
Once the strategy is selected and the Group is operational, any proposed changes to the geographic areas would be a matter for the Group to consider and to seek approval from the Department to implement the changes.
I recently announced the approval of the first two successful Local Action Groups to deliver the new LEADER programme in Carlow and Tipperary. My Department’s focus now is to complete the selection of the remaining Local Action Groups to ensure a timely and smooth transition from the 2014-2020 programme.
LEADER has been operating very successfully in Ireland for over 30 years now, and I am confident that the new LEADER programme will continue to deliver for rural communities all across the country.
