Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise as I missed a section of contributions because I had to speak in the Seanad. What is the delegation's experience of democracy that it faces in terms of the LCDCs and where the decisions are made between advisory boards? They had been made by people within the communities. Does the delegation find it more or less effective now?

I was particularly interested about the comments concerning strategic projects and the €200,000 cap. That is causing real problems for us as well in the likes of Mayo. I work within these communities and they have spent several years putting together all these strategically important projects. They have waited for Leader and some of the projects cost between €500,000 and €1 million. Having a cap of €200,000 and then saying it cannot be matched with sports partnership, for example, causes a nightmare for people. I can foresee cases where money will not be spent because of these blockages. Do the witnesses have any solutions as to how that can be addressed? It is cited in the way budgets have been cut. Between 2007 and 2013, during the worst economic crisis, we had way more money in Leader programmes than we do now. Mayo has been trying to operate with €9 million less than it had in the previous programme, with fewer staff on the ground to work with the communities that need extra help. That is where the focus should be and the areas that should be targeted. They are not able to do their jobs. Yesterday's announcement in the budget for extra Leader funding runs hollow for me. I hope that whatever little money there is would be used to reconsider the cap of €200,000.