Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 148: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if there is grant assistance available for a community group (details supplied) in County Limerick to carry out refurbishment work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14873/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Funding of €427m is available under the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2007-2013 for allocation to qualifying projects up to the end of 2013. One of the objectives of the RDP is to identify and provide appropriate amenity and leisure facilities to local communities not otherwise available to them. Funding for this type of activity may include updates/refurbishments to current structures as well as the construction of new facilities and in this context it may be possible to obtain funding for a project of the nature referred to in the question under the RDP.

There are 36 Local Action Groups contracted, on my Department's behalf, to deliver the RDP throughout the country and these groups are the principal decision-makers in relation to the allocation of project funding. Such decisions are made in the context of the local development strategy of the individual groups and in line with Departmental operating rules and EU regulations. Contact details for these groups can be found on the website of the National Rural Network at www.nrn.ie.