Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are a number of difficulties. First, there are changes to this particular roll-out of LEADER which the feedback from the ground suggests are making it harder to draw down project expenditure. The Minister made some changes when he came into office. Have those changes made any difference with regard to expenditure? Second, the area I want to focus on is the inconsistency in LEADER areas around the country. The average percentage of allocation spend is 20% but there are 16 counties below that average. At this stage in the programme, there is one company which has only an 11% spend and one with only a 12% spend, whereas the spend in Waterford is 33%. Why are there such inconsistences around the country? What is the Department doing to iron out those inconsistencies and to ensure the money actually gets spent in communities, which is where we all want it spent?

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