Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ireland has agreed with the European Union funding to the value of €2.1 billion for the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. The governing EU regulations provide that a minimum allocation of 5% of that funding goes to the Leader programme. The Government has decided to increase that to 7%, which I welcome. Therefore, €153 million in EU funding will be available to Leader during 2014 to 2020 and will be co-financed by Exchequer funding. The Senator is correct that the level of co-financing has yet to be determined. Discussions are ongoing with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the matter. Following conclusion of the discussions I will be in a position to announce the overall value of the Leader elements of the programme. The discussions are not yet completed but they are likely to be completed in April.

The second question related to alignment. We have had a number of meetings recently, including last week, on the role of the local community development committee and the role of the community structure. We made substantial progress. Equally, because of the community and local authorities coming together through the local community development company, we have to work out the nuts and bolts of the arrangements as to who will do what in terms of the roles and responsibilities involved. Public accountability is important in the disbursement of the money. The moneys will be paid to local community development committees through the director of finance in local authorities but the local community sector will be involved in a series of activities which will be the subject of discussion in the coming weeks. We are confident that we will be able to work out arrangements. The level of administrative finance that is required from a community point of view, in addition to the employment and contractual obligations of boards of Leader companies will be less onerous because the responsibility will be taken over by the local authority. I hope that will be helpful to the boards of directors of Leader companies who are worried about these matters on the conclusion of the Leader round of funds.

On the previous occasion coming up to 2007 there was an end to the programme and it took two years for the following programme to commence. I am anxious that there will be a shorter gap before getting the next round of programme funds going in early 2015. Most of the companies will be able to continue in their contractual sense, in particular the local development companies, up to the end of this year. if companies have enough money administratively to continue to the end of the year they will be able to do so but I hope the short gap between the end of this programme and the beginning of the new programme will amount to not more than a couple of months.

Senator Ó Domhnaill is aware that all of the money has been committed at this stage. I have asked Leader companies to tell me if they had projects in 2009, 2010 and 2011 that are not going ahead so that the funding can be reallocated. All of the companies have indicated that the projects are committed and none of them will be discontinued. I must take them at their word because they are private companies. We have no other money to allocate except to roll out all of the moneys that have been committed and to meet those commitments during the course of 2014.