Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator Boyhan for raising this issue and for the other issues he has raised regarding rural Ireland. I am glad the Senator has a concern. I appreciate that and the support which he and the others gave me in the Seanad when we discussed rural issues before Christmas.

The CLÁR programme provides funding for small-scale infrastructural projects in disadvantaged rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation. The aim of CLÁR is to support the sustainable development of identified CLÁR areas with the aim of attracting people to live and work there. The funding works in conjunction with local funding and on the basis of locally identified priorities.

The programme was originally launched in October 2001 to provide for targeted investment in disadvantaged rural areas. The areas originally selected for inclusion in the programme were those which suffered the greatest population decline from 1926 to 1996, with the exception of the Cooley Peninsula, which was included on the basis of the serious difficulties caused in that area by foot and mouth disease.The average population loss in the original CLÁR regions over the period 1926 to 1996 was 50%. In 2006, an analysis of the 2002 census data was carried out by the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis at Maynooth University and the programme was extended to include areas with an average population loss of 35% between 1926 and 2002. CLÁR was effectively closed to new applications from 2010 and all funding provided over the period 2010 to 2015 was in respect of prior commitments. However, the Government relaunched the CLÁR programme on 6 October 2016 based on the original areas outlined above, with a focus on three separate measures. The first measure concerned safety measures for schools and community or sports facilities, the second measure concerned playgrounds and multi-use games areas and the third measure concerned local access roads.

On 1 December 2016, the allocation of €8.293 million to 651 successful projects under the programme was announced. The 2017 CLÁR programme, with an indicative allocation of €5 million, was launched on 31 March 2017 with a closing date of 5 May 2017. Funding for the programme was available in 2017 under four separate measures. The first measure concerned support for school and community safety measures, the second measure concerned play areas, the third measure concerned targeted community infrastructure and the fourth measure concerned first responder supports. In total, more than 500 applications were received, to the value of €15 million, across the four measures. Applications under the first, second and third measures were submitted through the local authorities while applications under the fourth measure were submitted from voluntary organisations involved in community-based response to emergency situations. In total, just over €7 million was allocated to 231 successful projects, across the four measures, ranging from pedestrian crossings at rural schools to emergency response vehicles.

However, in order to ensure that the CLÁR programme continues to target the most appropriate rural areas, I am committed to carrying out a review of the areas covered under the CLÁR programme during 2018 in light of the most up-to-date population position as published by the Central Statistics Office in 2017. I have secured a budget of €5 million for CLÁR for 2018 and decisions regarding the measures that might be funded for 2018 will be made available shortly.