Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Vice Chairman for his comments. Like him, I want to see the money being spent in communities.

I will give some background information. The Leader programme 2007-13 was active until 2015. Indeed, some of the projects continued into 2016. Sometimes, it takes a while to get these programmes off the ground. The rural development programme 2014-20 was not agreed by the European Commission until 26 May 2015. Following that, a minimum of six months had to be provided to allow for potential LAGs to prepare local development strategies. That brought us up to the end of 2015. The functions were transferred into my Department in June 2016 and I was anxious to get the Leader funding out to communities. In July, the majority of the agreements were signed for the delivery of the Leader programme with LAGs throughout the country.

Since then, LAGs have sought expressions of interest from the project promoters. More than 4,000 expressions of interests for funding have been received by LAGs, with a total value in excess of €183 million. LAGs are now concluding calls for proposals and working with potential applicants to develop and finalise project applications in each area. As many as 25 projects have been approved by LAGs to date and are worth approximately €548,000. A significant increase in project approvals is expected as the year progresses.

A total budget of €40 million has been provided for 2017. Total expenditure for the Leader subhead to date in 2017 is €3.339 million. Of this amount, €2.761 million has been paid in respect of administration and animation for the LAGs and preparatory support for a local development strategy for east Galway. Expenditure on LAG administration and animation costs, plus other Leader delivery costs, will be in the region of €12.5 million this year. It is difficult to estimate expenditure precisely on projects in 2017, given that the process is controlled by the LAGs, but we will keep the expenditure under review.

Most committee members will be fully aware that it is a standard pattern for EU-funded programmes such as Leader to commence slowly. However, activity increases rapidly after the first year or so.

I understand that the Leader programme in most other EU member states has only ramped up in recent months. We are not, therefore, out of kilter with other EU countries. I accept that some administrative problems have been encountered by the LAGS and the project promoters, some of whom have expressed concerns about administrative arrangements under Leader. We must be conscious that this is 63% funding for Leader, approximately €157 million of the €250 million that is being provided by the EU, and there are checks that must be put in place. There are very specific requirements that must be met for the EU funding to be drawn down and this is the same for every single member state. Under the programme, we have tried to ensure that we are satisfied that all the projects are in order before they actually commence so there are no problems further down the line.

Having said that, I am very conscious that there are issues which need to be examined and, for that reason, I will host a forum with all the LAGS and local development companies on 17 May to discuss progress and explore the issues with them. I want to hear what they have to say and, to be frank, if there are problems we are going to have to sort them out because I want to see the money spent. That is the bottom line. The money needs to get out to communities and to the various enterprise and heritage projects that badly need this type of support. I shall meet them all, listen to their concerns and hear about the issues they feel are blocking the speedy delivery of this programme. I shall sit with them, my officials will be there also, and we will try to iron out the difficulties. Ultimately, it is about getting the money spent.