Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Calleary that the staff in Ballina do really good work there, work extremely hard and engage a lot. I have spoken to them on a number of occasions via the Internet, on Zoom, Webex or whatever else they are using, but I hope to visit Ballina as soon as I can.

As for the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, I was delighted to work on that matter with Deputy Calleary and the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, who gave approval for the funding to be rolled out. That is extremely important.

I am continually speaking to different people individually about the LEADER companies. I have not met them as a group yet but it is my plan to meet them very shortly. To be clear, they have until the middle of 2022 to complete these projects and there will be a fund for a transitional programme. I am considering that and will announce it in the coming weeks. I am happy to engage with the Deputies on this matter and I will also engage with the stakeholders. I wish to support them in the good work they do while bearing in mind that I will carry out a review of the programme. That is the right and wise thing to do. We want to see what has and has not worked well and identify the weaknesses and address them. I look forward to working with the LEADER companies in that regard.

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