Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My apologies. I had to leave to speak in the Chamber. I was not here for the initial contribution and it was not from any disrespect to the Minister.

We all need to see more money spent via the Leader programme throughout the country. I think the Minister would agree that there has been a much smaller rate of take-up and also a hesitancy on the part of an awful lot of community projects. They all say - they cannot all be wrong - that getting involved in Leader brings more bureaucracy and red tape. They feel that the position that they are in now is much more difficult than it was in the past. The Minister has said that progress has been made in cleaning some of that up, but there is clearly an issue here.

Several years ago, the European Commission was sending people to Ireland to look at the Leader programme and how well it was rolled out. Ireland was being used as an example. I do not think the Commission would do the same now. That is no reflection on the Ministers, it is a reflection on the way it has been changed. Perhaps it needs time to bed down or it may take time to sort itself out, but clearly everyone is aware that there is a problem. The Minister acknowledged this by saying that if something has not shifted by July, he will have to re-examine the position. The big picture must be looked at. There must be a realisation that whatever was done with this Leader programme, it is not working as well as previous iterations. That is something that needs to be acknowledged and sorted out.