Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, spending under the LEADER programme takes a while to ramp up. To date, €35.5 million of the programme budget has been spent since it commenced. I am expecting that by the end of this year, a total of €24.5 million of that funding will be spent. Every LEADER programme takes a while to ramp up because the local action groups, LAGs, or LEADER companies have to identify projects in the first instance.

Another issue to bear in mind is the fact that with previous LEADER programmes, there were no other competing schemes. Now we have numerous other schemes and funds, including the rural regeneration and development fund, the outdoor recreation infrastructure fund, the town and village renewal scheme and so on. That said, I am pleased that this year a total of 1,525 projects have been approved to the value of €50.5 million and a further 370 projects with a value of over €23 million are going through the approvals process. When projects are approved, they must be developed further and then funding is drawn down. Approval has been granted for many projects and much work is under way. The programme is beginning to ramp up significantly and I am pleased with that.

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