Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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394. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if the CLÁR scheme can be extended to cover an area (details supplied) in County Waterford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24072/17]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The CLÁR programme was originally launched in October 2001 to provide for targeted investment in disadvantaged rural areas. The areas originally selected for inclusion in the CLÁR programme were those which suffered the greatest population decline from 1926 to 1996, with the exception of the Cooley Peninsula which was included on the basis of the serious difficulties caused in that area by Foot and Mouth disease. The average population loss in the original CLÁR regions over the period 1926 to 1996 was 50%. In 2006, an analysis of the 2002 Census data was carried out by the National Institutefor Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) at Maynooth University and the programme was extended to include areas with an average population loss of 35% per county between 1926 and 2002. The CLÁR programmes which I launched in 2016 and 2017 were based on the same data and areas.

It is intended, however, that my Department will review the areas eligible for inclusion in the CLÁR Programme based on detailed 2016 Census Small Area Population Statistics data, which I understand will be published in July. The question of extending eligibility for the CLÁR programme to any particular area will be determined by this exercise.

Applications under the current CLÁR programme closed on 5^thMay. A total of 521 applications were received and my officials are currently assessing these proposals. I expect to be in a position to announce details of the successful applicants in the coming weeks.