Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I absolutely appreciate the role of any festival or gathering in any rural community. That is why we support the rural shows to the extent of €1 million right across the country, with over 130 of them. Fáilte Ireland, which is the predominant domestic tourism development agency, has a range of schemes in place for supporting local festivals and local community events, as do the local authorities. As I said, the LEADER programme supports festivals. There is one in Portlaoise and others in Ballinakill, Cullahill and Spink, across the Deputy's county. The LEADER programme has a very good track record of supporting festivals across County Laois. I know there are a number of local authorities around the country that provide current funding for festivals in local areas as well.

We are more than happy to assist with capital funding through the LEADER programme, but given the existing level of support through Fáilte Ireland and other organisations, I have no plans to look at this proposal further at this point.

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