Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide details of all funding programmes in his Department that community, voluntary and sporting organisations may apply to for funding; if he will provide a brief overview of each programme; the opening and closing dates of each programme; the minimum and maximum amounts of funding that may be applied for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5376/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Since 1995, my Department has made ex-gratia payments to a number of organisations directly involved in the delivery of animal care and welfare services. In 2012 it supported 140 organisations throughout every county in the country to the tune of €1.365 million. The funding available to individual organisations is intended only as a contribution to the overall costs of an organisation. In recent years my Department has urged those organisations that have the capacity to deal with larger animals to consider placing greater resources in assisting with promoting horse welfare.

Additionally, coastal community or voluntary groups may potentially be eligible for funding under the Seafood Development OP 2007-2013. Axis 4 of the Programme aids the sustainable development of fisheries areas. This is being implemented around the Irish coast by Fishery Local Action Groups (FLAG’s) who develop and implement strategies in their local areas. If any organisation submits a proposal that is coherent with the objectives of the local strategy, then funds may be allocated.

The opening dates for funding under Axis 4 will be the date that local strategies are in place for each FLAG, which are scheduled to be approved by various FLAGs throughout 2013. The closing date for the programme will be June 30th 2015. FLAGs may invite applications for funding from time to time, subject to annual budgetary allocations from BIM. FLAGs may limit the amount of funding allocated to individual projects.