Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. A total of €11 million has been spent out of €250 million and we are now in year five of a programme that runs from 2014 to 2020. Only €11 million has actually been spent on projects to date. Even if we were to add the €23.4 million to that total it only brings the spend up to approximately €35 million. There is still a problem here. The Minister has referred to the ramping up of expenditure during 2018. He has also been moving funds out of LEADER and into other programmes, which does not suggest full confidence on his part that we will spend the €250 million by the end of 2020 or even 2021. How much of the €250 million will be invested in projects at the end of this? Is the Minister proposing any other changes to ensure that the cash goes into projects and that spending increases significantly during 2019?

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