Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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135. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the type of projects funded under the basic services measure of LEADER; the amount of money left to be committed under this measure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24913/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Axis 3 & 4 (LEADER) of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 (RDP) aims to address quality of life issues in rural areas. More specifically the basic services measure of the RDP aims to identify and provide appropriate cultural and leisure facilities to local communities not otherwise available to them. The lack of such facilities in some rural communities is a significant impediment to their further development, and it is in this context that significant financial resources have been made available to rural communities all over Ireland under the basic services measure of the RDP since it commenced in 2009.

From an overall original programme allocation of €427 million, €49.61million was allocated to the basic services measure at the start of the programme. The RDP was amended in 2012 to take account of the increased EU co-funding rate of 85% which resulted in an overall decrease in the Axis 3&4 allocation. These changes also facilitated a more centralised approach to the allocation of funding with the removal of individual measure allocations. At that point the Basic Services measure had a very high level of both spend and commitment and I facilitated an extra €19.3m million to measure.

To date expenditure under the basic services measure has reached €32.5 million with a further €18.6m million in contractual commitments to be paid before the end of the Programme. This represents a significant proportion of both the original and revised programme allocation, and, in this context, the measure has now reached its full allocation. My Department is working with the Local Development Companies contracted to deliver LEADER elements of the programme to support in particular the provision of both direct and indirect support to entrepreneurial activity in rural areas for the remainder of this programming period including support for agricultural diversification, new business creation and rural tourism. However, there is still funding available for innovative solutions for the renewal and development of small towns and villages as well as the conservation and upgrading of the rural heritage.

The €32.5 million already spent under the basic services measure has provided support for a very diverse range of projects all over Ireland. In particular the measure has supported the development of a number of community centres that facilitate social and leisure activities, often in remote rural areas. The measure has also supported the provision of certain arts and cultural facilities, along with small scale leisure infrastructure such as playgrounds and sporting facilities.