Written answers

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Department of Environment, Community and Local Government

Leader Programmes Funding

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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614. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will review the cuts to funding for the next round of the Leader programme through to 2020; and if consideration will be given to the implementation of a parallel line of Government funding to compensate local communities across the State for this serious financial loss. [12734/15]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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615. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the reason he and his Department came to the decision to allocate Leader programme funding on a county basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12738/15]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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616. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide in tabular form the allocation under the Leader rural development programme for 2014 to 2020 to each county that he and his Department made; and the way it compares to the allocation in the previous Leader round of funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12739/15]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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619. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the rationale of using and allocating funding to a sub-regional area; the extra areas that received funding under this category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12742/15]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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622. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if a cost benefit analysis was carried out on the impact the new allocation of Leader funding will have in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12745/15]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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630. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the reasons behind the decision to allocate Leader funding on a county basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12887/15]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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631. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide in tabular form the allocations to each county under the Leader regional development programme 2014 to 2020; how this compares to the allocation under the previous round of Leader funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12888/15]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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634. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the rationale behind the decision to allocate funding to sub-regional areas; the specific areas that received funding under this category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12891/15]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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637. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department carried out a cost benefit analysis on the impact the new allocation of Leader funding will have in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12894/15]

Photo of Ciarán LynchCiarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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683. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider the establishment of a national rural development programme and the concerns raised regarding the rural development Leader programme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13415/15]

Photo of Ann PhelanAnn Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 614 to 616, inclusive, 619, 622, 630, 631, 634, 637 and 683 together.

The LEADER element of the Rural Development Programme 2014–2020, will provide €250 million in financial resources to support the development of sustainable rural communities. Ireland is reconfiguring the way in which local and rural development interventions are implemented. This is in line with Government policy to ensure that local government is well positioned to support the effective and efficient delivery of local and rural development. In this context, €220 million of the overall programme complement for the 2014-2020 period has been allocated based on administrative or county boundaries to 28 sub-regional areas.

The EU Regulations which govern the Programme state that it is the responsibility of the Member State to define criteria for the selection of community led local development strategies”.In this context, it was decided to determine county allocations in advance of beginning the LEADER selection process. This approach will enable any entity that wishes to make an application to deliver the LEADER element of the Programme to develop a strategy which is consistent with the funds available for their area. I believe that this process will support the design and development of more robust and implementable strategies.

A further €10 million has been allocated to the cooperation element of the Programme. €15 million has been allocated for the delivery of two agri-food schemes which will be managed jointly by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and my Department. In addition, €5 million is being held in reserve for the purposes of supporting the Rural Economic Development Zones (REDZ) initiative, pending the successful outcome of a Pilot scheme as identified in the report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA).

In determining the county allocations, three objective criteria were used, namely, minimum allocation, population density and a Resource Allocation Model (RAM). Each county was given a minimum allocation of €3 million to ensure that each received a viable allocation. However, Cork County was allocated €6 million as a minimum in order to ensure a viable allocation to each of the three administrative districts within the county, as the overall population outside of the city is almost twice that of any other county. While a specific cost benefit analysis was not conducted, the methodology used to calculate the allocations was designed to ensure that the available funding was weighted towards the most rural populations and those experiencing most rural disadvantage.

Using this methodology, which I am satisfied is fair and consistent, each county was allocated a proportionate share of the funding available through the LEADER elements of the RDP. Cork has been allocated almost €14 million under the Programme. This is the highest allocation nationally and is almost €5.5 million or 60% greater than the average county allocation.

While the allocation for the LEADER element of the 2014-2020 Programme is less than the value of the LEADER element of 2007 – 2013 programme, I am confident that within the confines of the fiscal environment we have experienced in the recent past, the Government has allocated the maximum amount possible to support the LEADER elements of the 2014-2020 programme. This funding, coupled with the Government’s drive to increase coordination at a local level and the commitment to the delivery of the recommendations in the CEDRA report, will ensure that the impact of the funding, while decreased, will be maximised to support the sustainable development of our rural communities.

LEADER funding for the 2007-2013 programming period was not allocated based on county boundaries but to individual Local Action Groups on completion of the Local Development Strategy process. In addition to this, the allocations changed in 2012 when the EU co-financing rate changed due to the financial crisis and this resulted in a decrease in the overall programme allocation. Table 1 below details the initial allocations for each Local Action Group for the 2007-2013 programme period as well as the 2013 revised allocations. Table 2 below details the county allocations for the 2014-2020 programme period as announced on 10 March 2015.

Table 1

Local Action Group Original Allocation Revised Allocation
Avondhu Blackwater Partnership Ltd. €9,057,810 €7,563,093
Ballyhoura Development Ltd. €11,673,519 €18,832,677
Carlow County Development Partnership Ltd €8,878,177 €7,619,278
Cavan-Monaghan LEADER €12,035,118 € 10,235,403
Cill Dara Ar Aghaidh Teo €12,282,448 € 10,642,073
Clare Local Development Company Ltd. €14,028,529 € 16,175,841
Co Kilkenny LEADER Partnership €11,523,729 € 13,587,910
Co Wicklow Community Partnership €11,135,560 € 9,128,172
Co. Sligo LEADER Partnership Company Ltd €10,888,673 € 9,791,787
Comhar na nOileáin Teoranta €4,642,415 € 7,218,571
Donegal Local Development Company€12,831901€12,693,035
Fingal LEADER Partnership Co. €7,766,780 € 6,488,129
FORUM Connemara Ltd. €9,668,965 € 7,925,982
Galway Rural Development Company €15,257,985 € 12,512,676
Inishowen Development Partnership €8,286,143 € 7,410,663
IRD Duhallow Ltd. €10,315,943 € 12,852,160
Laois Community and Enterprise Dev €10,993,608 € 9,564,731
Leitrim Integrated Development Co Ltd €10,845,497 € 10,332,659
Longford Community Resources Ltd €8,714,110 € 7,198,679
Louth LEADER Partnership €8,839,815 € 7,265,162
Mayo North East LEADER Partnership Co. €10,751,894 € 9,663,562
Meath Community Rural and Social Dev. €12,748,771 € 15,139,043
North East Kerry LEADER Partnership Teo €10,558,882 € 9,267,641
North Tipperary LEADER Partnership €9,708,008 € 12,917,884
Offaly Integrated Local Dev Co. Ltd. €11,520,489 € 10,856,445
Roscommon Integrated Development Company €12,838,021 € 11,230,957
South and East Cork Area Dev Ltd. €10,641,494 € 10,600,928
South Kerry Development Ltd. €12,370,667 € 10,341,450
South Tipperary Local Development Co Ltd €11,106,187 € 12,515,649
South West Mayo Development Company Ltd €12,150,007 € 10,820,318
Waterford LEADER Partnership Ltd. €10,558,519 € 11,486,013
West Cork Development Partnership Ltd. €14,601,149 € 13,481,280
West Limerick Resources Ltd €9,997,751 € 9,091,221
Westmeath Community Development Ltd €10,987,060 € 9,015,451
Wexford Local Development €12,515,565 € 11,919,814
Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta* €17,278,809 € 3,371,751
Overall Total €399,999,998 376,758,090
*Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta (MFG) went into liquidation in 2012.

Table 2

LEADER Allocations 2014-2020

Sub Regional Area Programme Allocation
Rural Dublin €6,370,438.43
Kildare €5,261,600.01
Meath €6,903,123.57
Wicklow €6,336,549.00
Carlow €6,416,803.43
Kilkenny €7,791,572.91
Wexford €9,840,140.56
Tipperary €10,103,443.28
County Waterford €7,522,796.18
County Cork €13,938,823.22
Kerry €10,219,868.29
Clare €8,920,224.65
County Limerick €9,276,593.96
County Galway €12,195,883.61
Mayo €11,121,431.88
Roscommon €8,852,659.22
Louth €6,101,862.01
Leitrim €5,998,474.74
Sligo €7,655,647.81
Cavan €8,522,285.84
Donegal €12,913,877.86
Monaghan €7,592,719.51
Laois €7,124,586.86
Longford €7,597,623.07
Offaly €8,036,763.90
Westmeath €7,384,206.22
Total €220,000,000.00

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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617. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if the allocation of Leader funding to the County Cork region is 32.4% less than the previous round of funding; his views on the equitability of this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12740/15]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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618. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to set out the average of the national allocation of Leader programme funding that County Cork received; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12741/15]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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620. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government how the criteria of sub-regional areas were applied to the County Cork area given that the population of the Cork county area is twice the population of the Cork city area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12743/15]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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632. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government how he can defend a cut of over 30% in the Leader funding allocated to County Cork; his views on whether this is fair; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12889/15]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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633. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to set out the percentage of the national allocation of Leader funding County Cork received; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12890/15]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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635. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to explain the way the criteria of sub-regional areas were applied to County Cork in view of the fact that there is double the population of Cork city living in the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12892/15]

Photo of Ann PhelanAnn Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 617, 618, 620, 632, 633 and 635 together.

The LEADER element of the Rural Development Programme 2014 - 2020 will provide €250 million in financial resources to rural communities over the next 5 - 6 years. Ireland is reconfiguring the way in which local and rural development interventions are implemented. This is in line with Government policy to ensure that local government is well positioned to support the effective and efficient delivery of local and rural development. In this context, €220 million of the overall programme complement for the 2014-2020 period has been allocated based on administrative or county boundaries to 28 sub-regional areas.

The EU Regulations which govern the Programme state that it is the responsibility of the Member State to “define criteria for the selection of community led local development strategies”. In this context, it was decided to determine county allocations in advance of beginning the LEADER selection process. This approach will enable any entity that wishes to make an application to deliver the LEADER element of the Programme to develop a strategy which is consistent with the funds available for their area. I believe that this process will support the design and development of more robust and implementable strategies.

A further €10 million has been allocated to the cooperation element of the Programme. €15 million has been allocated for the delivery of two agri-food schemes which will be managed jointly by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and my Department. In addition, €5 million is being held in reserve for the purposes of supporting the Rural Economic Development Zones (REDZ) initiative, pending the successful outcome of a Pilot scheme as identified in the report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA).

In view of the size of the Cork County area, excluding the city, and taking into consideration that there are three administrative areas within the County, it was decided that there should be three sub-regional areas for County Cork for the purposes of LEADER.

In determining the county allocations, three objective criteria were used, namely, minimum allocation, population density and a Resource Allocation Model (RAM). Each county was given a minimum allocation of €3 million to ensure that each received a viable level of funding. However, Cork County was allocated €6 million as a minimum in order to ensure a viable allocation to each of the three administrative districts within the county, as the overall population outside of the city is almost twice that of any other county.

As the value of the LEADER element of 2014-2020 Programme is less than the LEADER element of the 2007-2013 Programme, the allocations made on a county basis under the new Programme, including the allocation for Cork, have inevitably reduced. Nevertheless, using the methodology outlined above in relation to the 2014-2020 Programme, which I am satisfied is fair and consistent, Cork has been allocated almost €14 million. This is the highest allocation nationally and is almost €5.5 million or 60% greater than the average county allocation.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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621. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he and his Department have received complaints from Leader companies regarding the funding that has been allocated to them; the way these complaints will be dealt with; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12744/15]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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623. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he has been informed that the new allocation of Leader funding by his Department will result in job losses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12746/15]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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636. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the huge concerns of Leader companies regarding the huge reduction in their funding; how he plans to address their valid concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12893/15]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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638. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware that the new allocation of Leader funding by his Department will result in job losses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12895/15]

Photo of Ann PhelanAnn Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 621, 623, 636 and 638 together.

Ireland is reconfiguring the way in which local and rural development interventions are implemented. This is in line with Government policy to ensure that local government is well positioned to support the effective and efficient delivery of local and rural development. In this context €220m of the overall programme complement for the 2014-2020 period has been allocated based on administrative or county boundaries to 28 sub-regional areas.

For the avoidance of any doubt, it should be noted that the allocations announced on 10 March 2015 were not allocations to current Local Development Companies. The allocations were made to counties on the basis that Local Development Strategies will emerge from these counties to support the delivery of the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme. Any entities contracted to support the delivery of the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme will be selected on the basis of an open and transparent selection process the first stage of which was launched on 23 March 2015.

Under the EU regulatory framework governing the LEADER element of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, each EU Member State must conduct an open and transparent process to select both the Local Development Strategies and the Local Action Group(s) for each sub-regional area. Accordingly, my Department is conducting a two stage process. The first stage, which is an Expressions of Interest (EOI) stage, was recently launched and any entity wishing to be considered as a Local Action Group for their area has until 15 May 2015 to submit an EOI. Further details are available on my Department’s website on

.

Entities successful in the first stage of the process will be invited and supported in Stage Two of the process, which is the design of a Local Development Strategy for their area. I expect that some Local Development Strategies will be operational and funding available by Autumn 2015.

My Department has no role in the internal operations of Local Development Companies and, therefore, does not have a role in relation to staff or employment matters, which are for the Board of each company, as the employer, to manage.

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