Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Céad fáilte ar ais roimh Seanadóirí. Ba mhaith liom, thar ceann Pháirtí Shinn Féin ár gcomhbhrón a chur in iúl do mhuintir Boston as ucht an sleacht a tharla ansin agus a rá go dtéann ár gcuid tacaíochta anonn go muintir Boston ag an am seo.

I concur with the sentiments expressed by Senator O'Donovan in regard to the farming community and would welcome a debate on that issue. An issue related to that is one on which I hope we can also have a debate. I hope we can have a debate with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, on the Leader funding crisis that exists currently. Leader funding has been frozen for local development companies over the past while and it is unclear why this has happened. I would like to hear from the Minister whether there is a problem, because this is the final year of the programme and companies are trying to ensure their full allocation is used.

We also need to ensure we are drawing down all moneys available from Europe for this programme. We do not wish to leave anything unused because we need every penny to be spent here. Is there an issue regarding the matching funding and is there a spat going on between the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government regarding the matching funding we need to put on the table before we can draw down the final allocation? This is very important, particularly in the context of where the Minister sees these companies going. We are all receiving letters from people supported by these companies with regard to their concerns about the new model being proposed by the Minister for Leader funding. They are concerned that the Leader companies will be sucked into the county councils and most of the funding will be used for county council works. Will the Leader ask the Minister to come in for a debate on Leader funding and rural development in general?

As this is the beginning of term, I reiterate my call on the Leader to contact the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister in the Six Counties to see if they have decided to take us up on our invitation to come down and speak to us in the House.