Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 301: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the reason hub towns here such as Ballina and Castlebar, County Mayo are exempted from the new Leader programme. [2987/09]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 302: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the towns which are exempt from the new Leader programme. [2988/09]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 301 and 302 together.

For the purposes of implementing the Rural Development Programme, the following areas are exempt:

The City Council boundaries of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick

The Borough Council boundaries of Kilkenny, Sligo and Wexford

The Town Council boundaries of Athlone, Ballina, Castlebar, Cavan, Dundalk, Ennis, Killarney, Letterkenny, Mallow, Monaghan, Mullingar, Tralee, Tuam and Tullamore.

During negotiations in respect of the Rural Development Programme, the European Commission indicated that the OECD definition of rural areas should be used to define the rural areas that would be covered by the Programme. The OECD defines rural areas as those with a population density of less than 150 persons per square kilometre. It was considered, in the Irish context, that a more appropriate course of action would be to remove the urban areas defined as hubs and gateways in the National Spatial Strategy from coverage under the Programme.

The use of this definition, rather than a population density calculation, will ensure that Rural Development Programme funding will continue to be available to a more significant number of rural areas, which would otherwise not receive funding under the new Programme. This approach was adopted following detailed negotiations with the European Commission and is the best possible outcome in relation to Programme to coverage.

The positive impact on rural areas will far outweigh any potential loss in hubs and gateways and, in overall terms, the level of investment resulting from the new Rural Development Programme will be a significant boost to the country as a whole.