Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Feighan for raising this issue on the Adjournment and welcome the opportunity to clarify what I have previously clarified in respect of the procedure currently taking place. The Leader area-based rural development initiative is delivered in County Leitrim and north County Roscommon by the Arigna Catchment Area Community Company based in Arigna, County Roscommon.

Under this EU co-funded initiative, €3,495,000 was allocated to the group to fund the delivery of its business plan for the period 2000-06. The business plan must be delivered in accordance with operating rules issued by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, which is the managing authority for Leader in Ireland.

Under the initiative, funding is available for a number of projects, including rural agritourism. The Arigna Leader programme has allocated €714,000 from its budget to fund rural agritourism projects. It has funded the development of tourism accommodation and integrated marketing campaigns for its area. Significant projects in place include the Leitrim-Roscommon walks network, Wild Rose Leisure on Lough Gill, the Agriculture and Farm Heritage Museum, Ballinamore, County Leitrim, and the development of walking and cycling routes in north Leitrim. As Senator Feighan noted, I have visited the area and hold the work carried out by the Arigna Leader programme in high regard. The fruits of its work are clear.

From 2007, a new rural development programme will be introduced which will cover all rural areas. The introduction of this new programme will provide rural development organisations and the communities they serve with opportunities and resources to work together for the betterment of their communities. Such opportunities will include rural tourism measures. The cohesion process aims to improve arrangements under which community and local development initiatives are delivered, and it is being further advanced this year. I allocated funding of €3,373,527 to city and county development boards in support of cohesion proposals developed by community and local development agencies. There will be a further €4,273,000 in cohesion funding available this year in support of improved cohesion and volunteering.

It is important to understand what I am trying to achieve. The core objective of the 2005-06 round of cohesion funding is the alignment of local, community and rural development organisations to achieve full area coverage of these programmes by the end of 2006. The local development social inclusion programme, LDSIP, should cover everyone in the State who needs a service, including lone parents, Travellers or anyone else, regardless of whether they live in the poshest or poorest road in town. The partnership must cover everyone and focus on the target groups. It is intended that the LDSIP will cover urban and rural areas in all parts of the State. Subject to discharging our obligations under EU requirements in regard to the selection of companies in rural areas, this will involve rural and local development groups coming together to secure a unified overarching structure which will provide full area coverage. In urban areas, this will involve local development groups securing full area cover, which is not currently the case in Dublin. Major areas and pockets of disadvantage were omitted.

The major advantage of such an approach is that the State will be able to deliver programmes such as the rural social scheme through these new unified structures because they will have all-area cover. My preference is for unified overarching structures based around county boundaries, where practicable. One could point to home and a Gaeltacht Leader partnership, but for linguistic reasons, one cannot service it through the local partnerships. However, I will consider variations across county boundaries on their merits. I want to make it clear that I have not closed that door.

As regards Leitrim and Roscommon, there are currently five companies providing services, two Leader companies and three partnerships. The intention from 2007 is that Leitrim and Roscommon will be served by fewer integrated companies, providing both local and rural development programmes. Proposals on the exact area covered by such companies are being developed by the relevant agencies. In this regard, proposals from Roscommon County Development Board have just been received in my Department and proposals from the Leitrim County Development Board are currently awaited. On receipt of proposals from both counties, the matter will be considered further in consultation with the local agencies on the ground.

The concern appears to be that it will be three versus one vote locally and I will sign off on it. I assure the Senator that the Leader and partnership programmes and the rural and social scheme will be delivered by one agency in one area the next time round. This aspect is non-negotiable.

In the long-term, people will see the merits of making the partnership go nationwide. However, if a good case is made and agreement is obtained, I am open to flexibility on whether to stick rigidly to county boundaries. I have purposely allowed for some leeway because I accept that one size does not fit all. What people in the area want is what will determine the outcome. Even though I do not know how I will work it out, I am sure the Senator will advise me on the issue.