Written answers

Thursday, 12 December 2013

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

EU Funding

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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24. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if funding will remain available under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development for the rural broadband scheme should suitable projects be identified between now and the end of 2014; if areas are identified as not receiving an adequate service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53137/13]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Under the current Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2007-2013, a Rural Broadband Scheme (RBS) was launched in 2011 in recognition of the fact that, despite the widespread availability of broadband throughout Ireland, there still remained individual premises that were unable to receive a service. This Scheme was aimed at making a basic broadband service available to un-served premises in rural areas, not already covered by the National Broadband Scheme. An amount of €13,413,000 of funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Devleopment (EAFRD) was allocated to the scheme which came within the remit of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

During the scheme development process existing commercial internet service providers indicated their ability to provide a broadband service to almost all of the qualifying applicants under the scheme. Consequently there has been no need for any disbursement of public money and no related draw-down of EU funding was necessary. The EAFRD funding originally made available for this scheme has since been re-allocated to other qualifying measures under the RDP.

In relation to the new RDP for the period 2014-2020, work is currently ongoing in my Department to design the new Rural Development Programme (RDP) for the period from 2014 – 2020. In designing the new RDP, my Department must take account of the range of requirements set out in the draft Rural Development Regulation and the need to support key policy aims for the agri-food sector in the light of the Food Harvest 2020 strategy. In undertaking this work, a number of ex-ante analyses are being undertaken and a public consultation process has also taken place.

I expect to make decisions in relation to the measures to be supported under the new RDP by the end of this year, and to submit a draft programme to the Commission in early 2014.

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