Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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672. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the criteria that determine the distribution of Pillar 2 funding for rural development projects, specifically the Leader initiatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15554/15]

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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The Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, will be co-funded by the EU through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the National Exchequer. While an EU allocation of €2,190 million is available to Ireland, €2,037 million of this is allocated to measures to be delivered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The remaining €153 million of the EU funding is allocated to my Department for the delivery of LEADER measures. National funding has been allocated to bring the total funding under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 to €4 billion.

The co-funding rate for the LEADER element of the programme is 65% (EAFRD) and 35% (National Exchequer) which brings the programme complement for the LEADER elements to €235 million. In addition to this, two Agri Foods schemes with a budget of €15 million will be delivered using the LEADER approach resulting in an overall programme complement for LEADER of €250 million.

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.

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. 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 programme.