Ms Martina Earley:

I thank members for their questions. I will try to respond to aspects not covered by my colleagues. One of the three core issues for us in terms of change is the stop-start of rural development. We waited a long time, from 2013 to 2016, for the last programme. In the context of Brexit and its likely impact on rural Ireland, this is not acceptable. We are calling for a continuation of the LEADER programme, a national rural development programme of the type we had previously from 2001 to 2006 and local development strategies in 2019. It is critical that the stop-starts of the past are not repeated.

The next programme is very much about smart villages. It has been agreed by Europe and it underpins the bottom-up approach to local development companies, local people mobilising and using their assets, including new technologies, as possible solutions. We are seeking support for this programme. We urge that local rather than national funding be made available because local communities are often left behind when it comes to national funding. It is often the case that the best dressed and the most dynamic get the funding. We believe that local development companies, working with all partners, including local authorities and elected representatives and communities, are best placed to develop all community and rural development, with the focus on communities. Our boards are community-led, working with State sector social pillars. We have the structures in place.

As mentioned, Arigna LEADER in 1991 was very successful. Three local authorities came together when the coal mines closed. Local actors came together with their own funding and decision making, supported by elected and local authority representatives, and the fruit of those community projects are up and running. In terms of disadvantaged communities, as stated by Mr. Finn, they were the earliest into LEADER. We can never be complacent. There are always new issues arising for communities. Local development companies put in the hard work at ground level. They never say no to communities. We believe that hard work, strategic development and long-term plans are necessary, but based on consultation with the communities. To ensure a return on public investment, development must be sustainable and a community has to want it.

On farmers, the current LEADER programme does not sufficiently address farm diversification. There is no specific measure in this regard in the programme. Also, in terms of enterprise support under the LEADER programme, innovation is key. In other words a company must prove its enterprise does not already exist. We recommend that the back-to-work enterprise allowance model, which is so successful in terms of start-up businesses, be used in the farming sector, working with farmers on a collective basis to free up the stringent measures under LEADER in terms of innovation. There is no support programme specifically geared towards the farming sector.