Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I always thought that the Leader programme was democratic. It is a constant fight to try to get the money out. The situation now is that we have 15 steps, with the addition of this expression of interest. I am absolutely surprised that the Minister has not received €183 billion in expressions of interest because every community is saying they have to get something in; some will be good and some not so good. It is another layer. I do not know where this came from or whether it is an EU or a national measure. Whoever dreamt that one up deserves a medal for procrastination. The reality is that the way it worked was those who had really mature projects approached the Leader groups when they were ready. If the groups were going to apply with a project that was a pipe dream and could not happen or with one that was not yet mature or did not have the required information, the groups were sent away, told what to get and then they came back. We have become so focused on planning in this country that we are getting nothing done. I think of all the things that happened by people doing things on a wing and a prayer and I look at the Minister of State, Deputy Ring and I say "God bless Monsignor Horan". Today, instead of being considered a really good guide for Connacht, he would probably have wound up in prison because he just got on with the job. I also think of the many people involved in development when I was involved in that sort of work, including the former Senator, Pól Ó Foighil, and ask what would have been the position if we had been obliged to try to do it under the conditions being created for the new generation of developers and community people. It seems that governance has now become much more important than delivery. I am told that there are 15 to 18 steps - the final three are optional. This is 15 steps from conception to approval of a project. I am not worried about the first two years being lost as this period is always lost with the way the EU operates. I believe this EU cycle is crazy but it is there. I am, however, worried about the way we are going to get these through. A lot of Leader companies, because of the shortage of money, are making upper ceilings of €50,000. We have all these pages of targets and outputs and all the stuff that I bothered to go through. In that context, I make the prediction that in ten or 15 years if somebody were to go back and look at the previous Leader programme and examine the legacy of the €5,000 or the €10,000 grants paid here and there, they will discover them to be long gone in the wind. The projects that cost €400,000 or €500,000 with Leader grants of up to €1 million are the projects that will still be benefiting the communities substantially because it takes that kind of money, and it is getting more expensive. The planning process alone is costing a few hundred thousand euro. The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, should consider the Cong Crossroads community centre which is a fantastic facility and which received €500,000. Anything less would not have been any use.

Who dreamt up the idea of bringing Pobal into this process as another outside agency? We now have the LCDCs and Pobal in addition to the local groups, the Department and the EU. Now there are more people with a hand in the pie at every step in a process. We should face facts. The Minister is where she is and I wish her luck unravelling this. It needs to be unravelled and she inherited a great mess from the former Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. It managed to do so much destruction in five years it is unbelievable. The Minister was handed a poisoned chalice in the way the Department gave it over to her Department. All the gold is there but the Minister cannot actually get at it. I wish her luck in her efforts but she will not unravel in time for the money to be spent this year.

The Minister comes from a farming background so she must understand the issues relating to cows. When I was in the Department and when, at the beginning of the year, I would be worried about money, the Secretary General at the time would say to me "There is a cash cow here". The Minister has a cash cow. She has too much cash that she will not spend. Will she spend that money on something else? It is now May and €1 million has not been approved. Only €500,000 has been approved. We know that €12 million is going to go on regeneration and that more than €2 million will be allocated to administration, but the Minister will not spend €5 million in actual projects by the end of the year. The communities will not convene and rush out just to get to the Minister so she can make a claim on the Exchequer by the end of the year. One can forget about anything that is given out in November or December. August is out - the Minister knows that LCDCs do not meet in August. It is going to be worse now that the local authorities are involved. So the available months are June, July and September. Perhaps some things initiated in October might be completed by the end of the year, but that would be a tight call. Certainly, nothing substantial would be done. I have said enough.

I wish to raise another issue. May I go on?