Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am pleased to note that I will launch the Leader programme at an event in Virginia, County Cavan, tomorrow morning. My Department has issued funding agreements to local action groups in 21 of the 28 sub-regional areas designated under the Leader programme and I expect that most, if not all, of these local action groups will be in a position to finalise their respective agreements at this event.

The delivery of Leader will commence immediately in these areas and the local action groups can begin receiving applications starting from Monday morning. I am aware that a large amount of work has been ongoing behind the scenes in each area since the closure of the old Leader programme, aided with funding from my Department, and I expect that these groups should be able to hit the ground running in terms of receiving and approving applications.

I am also confident that funding agreements will issue in the remaining seven Leader sub-regional areas in the coming weeks as the local action groups provide the additional information and clarifications requested by the independent selection committee established to review and select the strategies submitted in each area. The independent selection committee met today to review progress and will meet again in early August to facilitate the finalisation of strategies. I met the committee members for the first time today.

There is also the possibility of an appeal in two of the competitive areas where more than one strategy was submitted and that process must be allowed to run its course before a funding agreement can issue. I can assure the Deputy that funding agreements will issue in all of these remaining areas as a matter of urgency once all of the outstanding issues have been resolved.

I am pleased to note that Leader funding can now begin to flow into communities throughout Ireland. I look forward to providing funding to the many fine Leader projects that will undoubtedly emerge in the coming months and years.

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