Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I absolutely endorse everything the Deputy said about Galway Rural Development. It is a super organisation. I have met its members twice in the past six months since I took up office, most recently in Mountbellew where they have done a lot of fantastic work. They are also really good in the remit of my other Department, the Department of Social Protection, around community employment, the rural social scheme, RSS, and Tús.

The LEADER funding allocations are done on the basis of deprivation. That is the model. The Deputy gave a breakdown, but even in a county as big as Galway, we see differences. We are consistently looking at the LEADER programme to make it as effective as possible.

Our priority at the moment is to make sure the new programme is up and running but also to defend the budget in the European context. That is our main priority for the next 18 months as we get to the MFF process within Europe.

The Department has significantly funded a number of initiatives across east Galway. Last week, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, opened a new development in Portumna. The old courthouse has been refurbished into a new community facility. We have done a lot of work on the Bia centre in Athenry which we funded through the RRDF. Deputy Roche has done on a lot of work on that. It is a fantastic example. We want to do more work on that. In addition, there is Dexcom in Athenry and the new school developments. It is a very good example of a town that is getting very focused support from other Departments. The town is being rebuilt and reimagined. We will continue to work across the towns in the region to attract further support.

The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, leads on SICAP and I am happy for him to speak to that.