Ms Martina Earley:

I would like to comment on the de minimisrule. This was an important provision of the previous Leader programme that allowed for co-financing by CLÁR and Leader. Many of our strategic investments were co-financed through the Leader-CLÁR vehicle. The €200,000 mentioned is not sufficient to support the level of investment required in identified areas. The de minimis rule is being misinterpreted and it needs to be broadened out. Previously a derogation was available in the agriculture area such that if the area identified was food-related de minimisdid not apply. It is about affecting trade. In other words, if it can be proven that a project will not affect trade within a locality, then it should be supported. The Leader programme needs additional funding. The CLÁR programme, with Leader, should be targeted at the most deprived rural areas.

On the local economic community plan, LECP, and the local community development plan, LCDC, in Roscommon we are working well with the LCDC and the LECP but we do not see that as being mutually exclusive. We would still support the autonomy of the Leader company but we see merit in joined-up thinking and everybody working together under a local economic community plan.

Decentralisation in terms of Roscommon has been very effective. The Department of Social Protection now has offices in Carrick-on-Shannon, as does the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Land Registry. This is affecting business in small towns positively. A study in this regard would be welcome. The benefits of this decentralisation are very evident to the people living in the county.

In terms of the planning rules, we believe there is a need for farm families to be prioritised in terms of locating on the family farm because that second generation has to look after older members of the family. There is a need for the preservation of the rural farm family. The policy of the local county councillors appears to be to direct people to locate in towns but this is not meeting the needs of the farming community.

According to the community enterprise review this year, very few regional rural projects in terms of community enterprise centres were funded this year, with most projects being located in larger urban areas. Again, the policy appears to be to direct projects to where there is a critical mass. What is being done by the Departments and the agencies to address the rural imbalance to ensure that a higher level of investment and support in rural areas? We were very disappointed with the number of enterprise supported projects in our area.

On bureaucracy, if I am required to do more administrative work, then I have less time for development work and less time to go after European funding or to progress delivery of actions on the local economic plan. On recreational tourism, there were greater co-operation in this area under the last Leader programme. We visited the West Cork Partnership because it is a model in terms of Leader. We learned a great deal from the partnership in regard to recreation and food which we brought back to our area. I would like to see co-operation in this area prioritised. We need to learn from the good areas in terms of commercialisation and to then replicate that in other counties. This should be a focus of the new programme.

In regard to macro-companies, we have a lot of good companies in our area. They are happy to be in the area because they have a loyal workforce and very good support from the local authority. What they want is a vibrant community. Quality of life and local services are priority issues. Companies are happy to locate in rural areas where there are local services and vibrant communities because they know they will have access to a loyal workforce. Some of our companies have been around for over 25 years. I agree that what micro-companies as well as macro-companies are important. We have to be ambitious for rural Ireland and to acknowledge that rural areas can be equal to urban areas.