Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister indicated that €24.4 million in expenditure was approved but when does he expect this to be drawn down? What is the timeline in the Department for that money to be drawn down? Like many funds in his Department, there are many announcements but they are not matched by the drawdown and the expenditure does not seem to match the hype. Is the Minister monitoring the scheme for potential blockages? I do not want this scheme end up like LEADER whereby there is inconsistency in areas throughout the country and a huge amount of money is left unspent as the programme comes to an end. This scheme has the potential to be very successful.

Is there a difficulty with local authorities providing matching funding? Are local authorities shovel ready in terms of the money they have to put into this scheme?

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