Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The Leader element of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 represents my Department's response to the commitment in the programme for Government in regard to rural enterprise development. In that regard, I hope to be in a position to commence the process of selecting the local action groups to deliver the Leader element of the rural development programme in the near future. The funding available for the delivery of Leader-type activities under the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 will amount to €425.4 million, almost treble the €150 million available for the 2000-2006 period. The new programme will complement the other funding for rural development measures by my Department.

In recent years, my Department has pursued a process of cohesion of local delivery structures in order to simplify and enhance the effectiveness of the delivery of a range of local development programmes. Following extensive consultations with and between the local agencies to develop the most suitable configurations of groups, in the course of 2007, the Government decided on revised areas of coverage for local development groups and clarified the arrangements for the membership of the boards of these bodies. Leader and partnership groups have been asked to give effect to these decisions and my Department has provided detailed guidelines to secure this outcome.

The realignment of local delivery structures will reduce the overall number of local development bodies from 94 to 55, comprising 17 partnerships in urban areas and 38 integrated Leader-partnership bodies in rural areas. My intention is to have the cohesion process completed in advance of the roll-out of the new NDP programmes, including the Leader element of the rural development programme. At this stage, local development bodies are in place in some 53 of the 55 operational areas agreed by the Government. The representative networks of Leader and partnership groups, whom I met on 31 January, have assured me that they are fully behind the Government's policy on cohesion and will endeavour to ensure that local delivery structures are in place across the full 55 areas in the coming weeks.

In one case, a Leader group has made a complaint to the European Commission regarding the Leader element of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 and, in particular, the cohesion process. I am satisfied that our approach in this area is fully consistent with the European regulations. My Department is closely monitoring the position and anticipates a view from the European Commission on this matter in the coming weeks.

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