Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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527. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of LEADER project applications, listed on a country basis, that exceed €150,000 in cost and that are currently awaiting approval from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32092/13]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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528. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number and percentage of LEADER projects, on a county basis, that were submitted to his Department in the past six months for approval that have been deemed incomplete and sent back to local LEADER groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32093/13]

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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529. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the time-frame in which full approval can be expected for completed LEADER project applications that were submitted to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32094/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 527 to 529, inclusive, together.

In the context of processing of Axis 3 and 4 (LEADER) applications under the Rural Development Programme (RDP), and in line with the community led nature of the LEADER elements of the programme, my Department only becomes involved in a project once the Board of the Local Development Company (LDC) has approved it and the Board minutes are submitted to my Department for a review of eligibility.

However, for projects that request funding of €150,000 or more, LDCs are required to seek final approval from my Department after Board approval. There has been a significant increase in the number of these types of projects over the last 12 to 18 months and there are currently 42 projects in the Department at various stages of assessment. The assessment of these higher value projects usually involves detailed consultations between my Department and the relevant LDC. Many of these projects have been submitted with insufficient documentation or with documentation that requires some level of clarification.

Projects submitted with incomplete documentation are now immediately returned to the LDC for completion and are categorised as rejected until full documentation is submitted. Prior to this change, my Department worked closely but informally with LDCs to assist them in ensuring that projects submitted were ready for assessment. As many of the consultations with regard to required documentation were informal and primarily within the context of providing assistance to the LDC, a precise percentage of the number over €150 ,000 projects that would have been considered incomplete is not available.

It is estimated, however, that up to 80% of the projects that have been submitted to my Department for final approval to date have required some level of consultation with the LDC regarding the provision of additional information in order to facilitate a full assessment.

It is difficult to give a specific timeframe for completion of the approvals process as it varies on a case by case basis , but generally , once full documentation has been received and all queries on an individual project have been addressed, the assessment process proceeds quickly. My Department is committed to ensuring that the assessment process for these high value projects is as efficient , effective and timely as possible.

The table below details the projects awaiting approvals from my Department.