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

It is a quick question. The larger projects of €300,000, €400,000 or €500,000 are those that are most likely to have a lasting legacy. Let us be honest about it - if the Government matches a project's funding of €500,000, that is still only €1 million. With all of the significant costs involved nowadays in terms of consultants, planning, quantity surveyors and the like that did not exist in the old days, €1 million does not count as a large project, but at least it provides something that will still be around in ten or 15 years' time. With some smaller projects, though, it would be hard to pinpoint what Leader had done ten or 15 years later. A number of projects have left good legacies that will last a long time.

Has the Minister considered encouraging Leader companies to pursue what we used to call "flagship projects"? He was familiar with them. They would have a lasting legacy, but there seems to be a move away from them towards smaller projects. That is a pity, as this is about trying to create a permanency of development in rural Ireland.