Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply but the situation is simpler than he has outlined. While obviously the Government will try to get as much money as it can from Brussels, if it decreases, the Minister can increase the national contribution. He could say today, if he had the assurances of his two colleague Ministers, that no matter what happens, we will revert to the €400 million that was in the Leader programme and that we will make up whatever shortfall from Brussels that arises. I hoped to hear today that no matter what happens in Brussels, the Government is committed to a hugely increased Leader programme the next time. The Minister might clarify whether he has had those discussions and let the Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform deal with how much of a rebate he gets from Brussels but have the Government commitment to go back to the €400 million minimum for Leader.

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