Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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1546. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the level expenditure by Leader in County Donegal for 2016 and 2017; the degree of underspend within the programme at present; the proposals to deal with the underspend; the details of Leader underspend funding transferred to other departmental budgets in the course of 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1759/18]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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LEADER is a multi-annual EU co-funded programme to support rural development. Ireland has an allocation of €250 million under the programme over the period 2014-2020, including both national and EU funding. The programme is administered by Local Action Groups (LAGs) which deliver funding in accordance with Local Development Strategies that have been agreed for each LAG area.

Funding Agreements for the current LEADER programme were, for the most part, signed with the LAGs in the second half of 2016 and the programme effectively became operational from that date. The allocation provided for each sub-regional area is provided for the duration of the Programme rather than on an annual basis. This affords the LEADER Local Action Groups greater flexibility in managing their resources and ensuring there is no underspend over the full duration of the programme.

The allocation to the Local Action Group in Donegal is €12.9 million over the lifetime of the programme.

Expenditure in Donegal in 2016 amounted to €35,362. This related to the costs of the Local Action Group in administering the programme and engaging with potential applicants following the signing of the Funding Agreement. Expenditure on administration and engagement with potential applicants in 2017 amounted to €747,483, while €30,844 was made in project payments. However, I expect project payments to increase considerably in 2018.

As of 31 December, 2017, 56 projects with a value of over €1.4 million had been approved for LEADER funding in Donegal. A further 16 projects requesting over €1.2 million in funding are at various stages of the approval process. This funding will be drawn down as projects start to incur expenditure and submit payment claims.

The original allocation for the LEADER programme in 2017 was €40 million, as reflected in the Vote for the then Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Of this €40 million allocation, €17.4 million was transferred within my Department's budget to support a new Local Improvement Scheme to improve non-public roads, while €3.8 million was transferred to increase expenditure on developing Libraries in local communities.

The transfer of funding from LEADER does not, in any way, reduce the Government’s commitment to provide €250 million to LEADER over the duration of the programme. As has been the case under previous LEADER programmes, there is a natural lead-in period in the early years of the programme, followed by a significant ramping up of activity. I fully expect that the €250 million allocation will be fully drawn down over the lifetime of the programme.