Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Canney. As he knows, Galway has been allocated €9 million for the period 2023-27. When we take this in conjunction with the transitional funding for Galway, which is €3.6 million for 2021 and 2022, it gives a total LEADER allocation of €12.6 million for the county for the period 2021-27. For the corresponding period 2014-20, County Galway had a core programme funding allocation of €12.2 million. I know the Deputy is not making the case it was reduced because it was not reduced. It was increased by 3.5% on a like-for-like basis. The Minister has been open and transparent as to how allocations are made. It is based on a number of factors with a minimum allocation for each subregional area. The balance of the funding is distributed based on the population and, critically, the level of deprivation. There are measures of this and it has been done in an open way by the Department to ensure we can stand over the allocations that have been made.

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