Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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1399. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will clarify the position where there are overlapping Leader local development strategies in a sub-regional area; if he will confirm that only one strategy can be chosen, and if the strategy chosen covers only part of the sub-regional area, that the remainder of that area will not receive Leader funding; if he will confirm if an expression of interest can be changed to include, or exclude, part of a sub-region after the initial expression of interest has been accepted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30604/15]

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Ireland is conducting a two stage process for the selection of Local Development Strategies to support the delivery of the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. Stage one, the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage, is complete but stage two is still on-going and therefore no entity has been selected to deliver LEADER in any area to date. In areas where entities do not come to an agreement and multiple strategies are submitted, it will be a matter for the Independent Evaluation Committee to make a decision on which Local Development Strategy should be selected.

This may be a single strategy for the entire sub-regional area or a strategy for part of the sub-regional area or a number of non-geographically overlapping strategies. There is a possibility that if two strategies overlap one may be chosen that does not cover the entire sub-regional area and in this situation the area outside of the strategy chosen will not be eligible for LEADER funding.