Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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19. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the reason for the anomalies regarding CLÁR funding in 2017 which saw only three successful projects under measures one to three in County Donegal; the reason funding under measure four is within the discretion of his Department and not directly under the local authority; if a scoring matrix will be used in the processing of applications for 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19156/18]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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This question is about CLÁR funding for County Donegal. There were anomalies in the 2017 figures for CLÁR funding for the county. Can the Minister explain them? For example, County Donegal received 0.6% of the funding under measure one, even though it encompasses 6.4% of the district electoral divisions, DEDs. Overall, the funding the county received was 45% below thepro rata average. Will the Minister explain why County Donegal was granted significantly lower amounts of CLÁR funding vis-à-visother counties in 2017?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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11 o’clock

The 2017 CLÁR programme provided funding under four measures. Measure 1 provided support for safety measures around schools and community facilities, measure 2 supported play areas, measure 3 concerned targeted community infrastructure needs and measure 4 provided first response supports. My Department received more than 500 applications across the four measures.

All applications received were assessed by my officials to determine whether they were eligible under the scheme criteria and whether all necessary supporting documentation, as required in the guidelines, was provided.  Unfortunately, a significant number of project applications that my Department received from Donegal County Council under measures 1 to 3 failed to meet the minimum standards for eligibility, or in the supporting documentation required.

The CLÁR programme has historically contained some measures where groups, and in some cases individuals, applied directly to the Department for funding, depending on the measure concerned. In 2017, applications for funding under measure 4 were submitted directly to my Department by groups involved as first responders in emergency situations.

I launched the 2018 CLÁR programme on 15 March with an indicative allocation of €5 million. The closing date for applications was 30 April.

My officials will look at all applications to ensure they are eligible under the scheme's criteria and that all the supporting documentation requested has been provided. If, after these checks, the value of qualifying applications is greater than the funding available, my officials will have regard to any prioritisation given to the projects by the county councils or other organisations which submit applications.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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It is true that the documentation was not submitted by Donegal County Council. However, Donegal County Council had all the documentation to hand in the council offices. The Minister's staff never asked for it. It was never looked for. On a number of occasions the Minister's staff was in discussion with Donegal County Council and his officials did not ask for the documentation to be forwarded to them. It was all there. I submit that the reason they did not ask for it was that they did not want it. They did not want to see significant amounts of funding going to a county like Donegal. I think other factors affect funding in that county. It is very interesting to look at the counties that received the maximum amount of funding. There are correlations there, but they have nothing to do with the location of CLÁR areas.

I want to know what the Minister is going to do. Funding under measure 4 is at his discretion. That is fair enough. It is not under the discretion of the local authority. Will he confirm that a matrix of funding will be used in processing the 2018 applications in order to remove political factors from funding applications so that they are actually judged on their merits rather than on the basis of political expediency?

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I reject what the Deputy says. I will just give him two pointers. I will outline what Deputy Pringle's council, Donegal County Council, did only last week. Every council agreed to the rules and regulations of the local improvement scheme, LIS, except Donegal. I will tell the Deputy what his county did. Every county was given an allocation of LIS funding, and each county was told to prioritise the roads. Deputy Pringle's county submitted €17 million worth of projects so that I would prioritise them. I will not do that. That is not my job. If the councillors and officials do not prioritise those schemes I will not do it for them.

I ran the CLÁR programme fairly and on a per capitabasis, like every scheme that I have ever run, including the sports capital schemes. Deputy Pringle should not blame me or my officials because his county did not apply for the schemes properly. My officials have no more time to go back to inefficient county councils that could not put in the paperwork the way we did last year. I reject the Deputy's submission. I will put a few figures on the record of this Dáil, if the Chair does not mind. I do not like that kind of allegation from people like Deputy Pringle.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister will have another minute.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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In the Leader programme, Deputy Pringle's county got €1,475,000. Under the town and village renewal scheme it got €1,159,000. Under the CLÁR programme it received €245,488. Under the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme it got €104,000. Under the local improvements scheme - listen to this, loud and clear - it got €3,384,000, the most money given to any county in the country. If the county council had spent that money, they might not have needed me to prioritise the scheme for them. In total, Donegal got €9,000,038 from my Department last year. I can tell Deputy Pringle this: Donegal has a very good representative in the Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh, because he made strong representations. He is a good Minister of State and a good TD, and that is why Donegal got €9 million.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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That is a very interesting outline of all the funding our county got, except for the CLÁR funding. That is what this question was about. It was about CLÁR funding, over which the Minister has discretion. If one looks at the figures across the country, one sees where the funding went. It did not go to Donegal, I contest, because Donegal's votes were guaranteed. That is the reality of the situation. Donegal is in need of CLÁR funding. It has 6.4% of the district electoral divisions, DEDs, in CLÁR. The funding it received was 45% below the pro rataaverage for the country. We can go through the counties and see where the funding went. Will the Minister make sure that this will not happen in 2018, and that the funding will go to the counties that deserve it?

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has already used all his time, so I will insist that he is very brief.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I will send Deputy Pringle these figures, because I think he would understand how this scheme runs. Donegal got one of the highest allocations in the CLÁR programme last year. What is wrong with Deputy Pringle? Does he want me to give it all to Donegal? Donegal got €878,000 and 92% has been spent. Deputy Pringle should tell the county council to spend the other 8%. Donegal got almost €9 million from this Department last year. That includes funding under other Government schemes.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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I am talking about CLÁR funding.