Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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276. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views that the rural communities of north County Dublin are being actively forgotten in the context of the Government's focus on supporting rural Ireland; her further views that more must be done by her Department to support the local rural communities in north County Dublin, including Ballyboughal, Garristown, Oldtown, and Naul; if she will provide information on the rural supports provided to north County Dublin since 2011, including funding type, by year in tabular form; the actions she plans to take to ensure the significant rural community in Fingal is no longer forgotten in the context of her Department's work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33283/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Under the Programme for a Partnership Government, the Government has placed a strong focus on supporting all communities in rural Ireland, including rural communities in north Co. Dublin. The LEADER programme is an important component of the funding provided by my Department to support rural development. Under the 2007-2013 LEADER programme, €4,399,216 was provided to Fingal LEADER Partnership between 2011 and 2015 for the delivery of the programme across rural areas in Co. Dublin, including north Co. Dublin. The breakdown of this funding on a year-by-year basis is shown on Table 1.

Under the 2014-2020 LEADER programme, Fingal LEADER Partnership is the Implementing Partner for the Local Development Strategy which has been approved to cover the rural areas under the remit of the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin Co. Councils. As part of this Strategy, I understand that Ballyboughal, Garristown, Oldtown, and the Naul will be targeted for assistance under LEADER. The total amount of funding allocated for the Dublin rural sub-regional area under the 2014-2020 LEADER Programme is €6.37 million.

Just recently, I announced the details of 172 towns and villages that were approved for funding under the 2016 Town and Village Renewal Scheme. Under this Scheme, Fingal Co. Council has been approved for €380,000 in funding to support projects in 7 towns and villages in north Co. Dublin. The details of these towns and villages, and the amounts allocated to each, based on proposals from the Co. Council, are shown on Table 2.

My officials will be in contact with Fingal County Council shortly to finalise arrangements to enter a funding agreement for the proposed projects.

Table 1 – 2007-2013 LEADER Programme: Payments to Fingal LEADER Partnership

Table 2 – Town and Village Renewal Scheme: allocations for Fingal County Council