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

I will make a brief comment. I always believe the bigger the distance from the top to the bottom and the more layers that are in a process, the bigger the delays and unnecessary complications. Generally, LEADER worked well. It was run through the Department, the European Union and the delivery companies, the local action groups, LAGs. I have an attitude in life that unless something is radically broken, do not mend it. I cannot understand how we wound up having local companies, local company development committees, LCDCs, Pobal, the Department and Europe. Those are five layers. It is over the top and removes the immediacy of a programme. That is a comment and I am not looking for a response. I feel that strongly. It has certainly worked well in Connemara where they just said that they would do it. It has not been a problem. There is an idea that we are involving public representatives. Local authority members are on every LAG in the country. The local authority had a big and a direct input. They are now kind of on two LAGs. In fact, they have less of a say in the LCDCs than they had in the local company. That is my opinion and I wanted to express it.