Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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87. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will consider increasing the LEADER allocation for County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54825/25]

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister consider increasing the LEADER allocation for County Galway? As he might be aware, there are concerns about the allocation for east Galway in particular, relative to other areas. Galway Rural Development is the local development company. I ask the Minister to outline whether this is something he is considering.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy knows, my Department is responsible for the existing LEADER programme which is part of Ireland’s CAP strategic plan covering 2023 to 2027. It is co-funded by the EU and the Exchequer. The LEADER programme is administered by local action groups on behalf of my Department and has been at the heart of rural development in Ireland for over 30 years. It plays a vital role in supporting local projects to bring renewed life, jobs and services to our rural communities, including those in County Galway.

As Deputy O'Hara is aware, €180 million of funding has been committed to the 2023 to 2027 LEADER programme. LEADER funding is allocated to local action groups at the beginning of each LEADER programme to provide them with greater flexibility in selecting and approving projects which will have a meaningful impact. Since 2021, County Galway received a LEADER allocation of €12.6 million, comprising €3.6 million for the 2021 and 2022 transition period and €9 million for the current programming period of 2023 to 2027. Projects continue to be approved under Galway's €9 million allocation, with projects to the value of €1.66 million being approved to date. There are no plans to increase the allocation under the current programme but I look forward to seeing the outcomes of the current programme emerge in the coming months and years. I anticipate that we will see a big increase in expenditure over 2026 but especially in 2027 and 2028. We are also working hard with the Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, to ensure that there will be LEADER funding in the next multi-annual financial framework, MFF, and that we will have access to co-funding from the EU. I join Deputy O'Hara in paying tribute to Galway Rural Development which is a fantastic exemplar of a local development company, not just in LEADER but in all of the work it does. I had the pleasure of meeting members of the organisation on a number of occasions in relation to Tús, RSS and the CE programme and of joining them in Mountbellew when they hosted an international event, Shearfest, in June.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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I want to outline the current situation with regard to LEADER funding. East Galway is receiving €37 per person which compares very unfavourably with all of our neighbours. Roscommon receives €97 per person, Offaly gets €76 per person while in Mayo, the figure is €64. This really restricts what our local development company can do because it has such a limited amount of funding. It means that our communities miss out on investment and new facilities. We all know of the fantastic impact that LEADER has had in all of our communities and how they have benefitted from it. We are not asking for special treatment here but there certainly should be equal treatment for east Galway. We are not a wealthy part of the State by any means and I ask the Minister to revisit this to ensure a more equitable split in the allocation, based on the appropriate socioeconomic data, in future rounds of LEADER and in any interim Exchequer-funded programme.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Under the current LEADER programme, Galway has an allocation of €9 million. Approximately €5.5 million of that is allocated to Galway East for both projects and administration costs. A number of factors are considered when deciding on the funding allocations. These include providing a minimum allocation of €3 million to each sub-regional area. The remaining funding is distributed based on population density and the level of deprivation in the area. The minimum allocation of €3 million at sub-regional level accounted for €84 million of the overall allocation. Of the remaining €96 million, €48 million is distributed based on population density of the county compared to the national average.

The remaining €48 million is distributed based on the deprivation index. There is quite a formula for it to try to ensure targeted investment in communities. It is also cofunded through the European Union, so we are very focused on ensuring that cofunding will continue beyond the current MFF. We are very focused on LEADER and want to see it deliver. I want all companies to deliver in the way that GRD is doing. I commend the work that it is doing. There are also other sources of funding so we were delighted to be able to fund the provision of a new building in Gort last year under RRDF. There are other sources funding within the Department for initiatives in Galway East.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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I understand it is a complicated formula but there is clearly a discrepancy between our area and other parts of the State. Will the Minister take a look at it and engage with the local development company on it? We feel very hard done by in Galway. We are not just missing out on the LEADER allocation. Our local authority is very underfunded and is not receiving the same funding per capita as other counties. The Government as a whole needs to take a look at this. I also want to ask about the plan for LEADER in the longer term. The Minister's predecessor, Heather Humphreys, slashed the budget for this programme, something that will be remembered by a lot of people next week when they go to the polls.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Deputy not to make remarks about the election.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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There are serious concerns about CAP. It seems the onus is now going to fall on the Government to ensure there is a sufficient budget to maintain the work that local development companies do. Will the Minister outline the Government’s plan for the future of the programme and give assurances that the budget will be protected and increased?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The former Minister, Healther Humphreys, did not slash any budget. Within the 2023 to 2027 programme, 38 projects have been funded across all the LAGs in Galway, the vast majority of which - 24 - are actually in Galway East. I have spoken about the work that is under way with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, as Minister for agriculture, but also with the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, and I have met with both Ministers to ensure LEADER will be part of the MFF going forward. It will fall to us during our Presidency to move on a lot of these but I have ensured from our Department that LEADER will be a core ask in the context of a new EU budget. That cofunding is absolutely vital. Equally, however, we have to look at the overall allocation to my Department in terms of the Government's commitment to rural development and to schemes that are making a difference right across rural communities on a daily basis, which are making a difference capital-wise. We do not get as much attention for these schemes but we also have to look at the current expenditure that is under way, led by the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to companies such as Galway Rural Development in terms of community support workers, community development workers and people who are enhancing and strengthening communities in their day-to-day activities.