Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and I are fully aware of the value of the agrifood business and acknowledge the valuable contribution Leader funding is making. Considerable amounts of money are spent on RDP programmes. This year there was an increased allocation of €34 million for the Leader programme, bringing the total allocation in 2012 to €96 million. The RDP provides direct and indirect support for enterprise development through diversification into non-agricultural activity, with a programme allocation of €16.6 million. There is an allocation of €45.4 million for the encouragement of tourism activity measures. These measures are aimed directly at providing support for the creation of on-farm employment opportunities in non-agricultural activities and services and the provision of support for rural tourism initiatives. Working in conjunction with these direct support measures are indirect support measures which include substantial financial resources of more than €29 million for training and information services. The Leader programme can and does continue to offer substantial support to some food processing enterprises in rural areas. The Minister hopes to be in a position to make further funding available in the near future. I hope some of the products that are so popular in Harrods can be sent to the north east, as we would he happy to try them. It sounds as if they are of a very high quality.

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