Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It does not look like there will be a full utilisation of the budget or anywhere near it in County Meath. In a previous response the Minister said that 80% of the budget will be dealt with this year nationally, but only 50% of budget for County Meath will be dealt with by May 2019. Therefore, we are significantly behind. The Minister said projects to the value of approximately €966,000 have been approved and funding of €6.9 million has been allocated. That is very weak. County Meath, which has very few of the official urban areas and almost the entire county qualifying under rural development, badly needs this money. We cannot stand by while there are major delays with this funding because our expanding communities, which effectively were former villages and rural areas, badly need the types of projects that LEADER funds. It is shocking to see the amount of money that has been spent under the LEADER programme in County Meath in recent years. It is appalling. Much more needs to be done to ensure that money is allocated, drawn down, spent and the facilities and community development provided for.

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