Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. I remember listening to public commentary from some of the people involved in administering the programmes. They spoke about the lack of consistency nationally. There are variations in the administration of schemes throughout the country. I recently heard that Article 48 checks are being taken from Pobal and given to the local authorities. The details of this might not be in the Minister's brief. He can come back to me on this matter if necessary. I listened to people on a radio programme who are involved in the LEADER programme. They said that there is no need to move this responsibility from Pobal, which has the requisite expertise at this stage, to each local authority. I understand that the local authorities are not looking for this responsibility and do not desire to have it. I do not think they have the expertise that is needed at the moment. If the Minister's brief does not cover this aspect of the matter, which has been raised with me, he might revert to me on it.

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