Mr. Michael Keatinge:

We have been in touch with all the county councils and local development councils in every area, the VECs and any local bodies. Deputy Harrington raised an important point about the changes afoot in the Leader approach, whereby it is being brought back to a local government model. In my earlier presentation I stressed that BIM has been the implementing agency for seafood funding for many years. We are a public body, so it is a fine line. We have made all the decisions for many years within our board structure, so the executive and the board of BIM make the decisions on grant aid. Over the last five or six years we have moved to a more open model in which we have external bodies making those decisions.

With the FLAGs, BIM takes responsibility for examining an application and ensuring that it is legal and correct and meets the necessary strictures of good governance. We then inform the FLAG of the budget and strategy and let it make the choice. We do not interfere in the choice process. We do ensure the choice is legal and meets all the standards of governance, and we take responsibility for that and for the conduction of the audit with the EU auditors. We are bringing the FLAGs within an existing public body governance structure. Whereas Leader companies were separate private companies, the FLAGs are boards which have responsibility for decisions but make those decisions in the knowledge that a public body provides the oversight, not interference. There is a definite line. We do not make the decisions but advise on legality and appropriateness.