Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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197. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the total amount of current and capital expenditure allocated to initiatives under the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas in 2016 and 2017 in tabular form; the total amount of funds expended to each year to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31372/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Report of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA) was published in April 2014 and contained 34 recommendations to support the development of rural Ireland. Some of these recommendations had a direct associated programme cost, while others related to policy initiatives that could be taken to support rural economic development.

The priority recommendation made by CEDRA was the need for a co-ordinated approach to rural development across Government. The assignment of responsibility to my Department for regional and rural development addresses this key recommendation. The forthcoming Action Plan for Rural Development will provide an overarching structure for the implementation of initiatives across Government which will benefit rural Ireland.

Other policy measures across Government that support the recommendations in the CEDRA report include the creation of the Local Enterprise Office network as a “first-stop-shop” for micro-enterprises, the preparation for the roll-out of high speed broadband, and the provision of loans for small businesses through the Microfinance Loan Fund.

Programmes under my own Department’s remit that can be directly related to the recommendations in the CEDRA report include the Rural Economic Development Zones (REDZ) pilot initiative in 2015, the 2016 REDZ programme, and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme. The allocations for these schemes is shown on Table 1 below. All funding for these schemes is by way of capital expenditure.

I launched the Town and Village Renewal scheme on the 9 August 2016, with a closing date of 30 September 2016 for applications. My Department has received 172 applications under this scheme and these are currently being assessed by my officials. Expenditure will commence once the assessments are completed at the end of October.

The 2016 REDZ programme was launched on 21 September 2016, with a closing date for applications of early November. All of the €3.8 million allocated to the 2015 REDZ programme was drawn-down. I will review funding for the REDZ scheme for 2017 following an evaluation of the current programme.

Table 1 – Funding for CEDRA programme initiatives in Dept. of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs