Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

We could dispense with the debate, but it will be held in public none the less. It was an entirely different topic we were talking about. My question was about the need for the Minister with responsibility for local government to clarify, with regard to the interim report of the local government and local development alignment steering group, whether he seeks closer amalgamation or co-operation of local development companies with local authorities or integration of the development companies into local authorities. This is an important question because there is a large amount of funding available to Leader groups at the moment. It is important that the local development companies have autonomy and independence in respect of local authorities, and that local authorities do not have undue influence or control over the Leader groups, especially in light of the finding of the EU Court of Auditors in 2010 regarding the Leader approach to rural development, which found: "The potential added value of a partnership approach was not achieved in [local action groups] where the decision-making was dominated by the local authorities". It also states: "One of the key features of the Leader approach is that decisions should be made not by public authorities but by a wider local partnership, where the local government is included but does not have a majority vote". The clear point is that the Court of Auditors has said we are doing it the right way and that local groups should have the final say. The input from local authorities is very important but if they have the majority this funding will be directed more towards local authority concerns and initiatives than those of the local partnerships and organisations.

There are 52 local development companies throughout the country, which include members of local authorities, but they do not have a majority at the moment. I ask the Minister of State to let us know her views on this. Closer co-operation is important, and there is close co-operation, but if the local authorities get their hands on the funding - which this year, I believe, is something like €92 million, having risen by nearly €40 million - the local communities that normally decide where the funding goes will lose that power. The money would be seen to be going to public representatives, but the staff and the county manager would actually have an enormous input if the local authorities were to take over the running of the Leader groups. We have seen already that the local authorities have an input in the county development boards. The Leader groups do a great job and they should be allowed to continue to do that in a manner than has been pointed to by Europe as one that works.