Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Canney for raising the important issue of LEADER programmes. All of us in this House are fully aware of the value and impact of the LEADER programme in towns, villages and parishes across Ireland and especially rural Ireland. Having had the opportunity to travel to most parts of the country, from Caherlistrane to Cahersiveen, I have seen first-hand the positive impact LEADER funding has on communities and I am pleased to see that a small, rural part of my constituency, the Westmanstown and Strawberry Beds area, will be included in the LEADER programme for the next period.

As we know, it is a locally-led, bottom-up scheme which meets the needs of local communities and businesses. The bottom-up approach has formed part of the policy framework for rural development in Ireland since its inception in the early 1990s and will continue to be an important element of Ireland's new Common Agricultural Policy strategic plan. The Department of Rural and Community Development, under the leadership of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is engaged in designing a new LEADER programme as part of the CAP strategic plan, CSP, for 2023 to 2027 and stakeholder consultation will be an important element of this.

In the 2014 to 2020 CAP programme period, €250 million was allocated to LEADER. From the period 2021 to 2027, this funding allocation will be maintained. This is comprised of €70 million being provided from the transitional period from 2021-22 and the recently announced indicative allocation of €180 million for the period 2022 to 2027. Rather than a decrease in LEADER funding, the Department of Rural and Community Development would strongly argue we are ring-fencing funding at €250 million and that is evidence of the Government's continued commitment to the programme.

The Government will continue to invest in rural Ireland and rural development. Capital funding allocations for the Department of Rural and Community Development have seen an increase from €88 million in 2018, when the Department was formed, to €205 million in 2025, under the national development plan. It is important to acknowledge we can fund rural development through many programmes and not just LEADER and that more than doubling of funding from 2018 to 2025 is in an indication of that.

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