Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It was a piece of paper. The Minister may be able to inform us further. Apparently this process of trying to amalgamate Leader funding into local authorities is not something he dreamt up himself. The last time the Leader negotiations were going on this was mooted too, and the European Union told the Government it did not wish it to go down that route because it believed the model being used in Ireland, namely, Leader funding being put through the local development companies, was a very good one. Perhaps the Minister could put to rest any rumours that he is considering this. He might tell the local development companies and the ILDN he does not intend to dilute the role they have in any way and that he will allow them to be the bodies to apply for Leader funding which, in many cases, is seen as the backbone of their funding. It is around that funding they lever all other fundings and the schemes they put forward. That is really important because they are very close to local development.

People are examining the benefits. Has there been a cost-benefit analysis as to whether it is more efficient to deliver local services and schemes through local development companies than it would be to do so through local authorities? There are great catchwords and phrases in regard to this whole sector. The one the previous Government had was "cohesion" and it seems to have been forgotten, particularly on the Fianna Fáil benches, that it was their party which cohered the CDPs and partnership companies. They did not say too much then about the erosion of local democracy------