Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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606. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount approved to date by each local action group under the current LEADER programme; the amount spent to date on the same basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53401/18]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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LEADER is a multi-annual programme which has a total budget of €250 million over the period to 2020. Funding to cover the full period of the programme has been allocated to each of the individual Local Action Groups (LAGs) who deliver LEADER.

Table 1 below provides a breakdown of the projects approved by each Local Action Group together with details of the project payments made to date.

Total expenditure on the LEADER programme since it commenced, effectively in 2016, has amounted to over €36.2 million. The level of project activity under the LEADER programme has increased significantly this year, and 1,565 projects have now been approved for funding of over €53.1 million. A further 393 project applications, requesting an additional €23.3 million, are at various stages in the approval process.

Table 1: Total LEADER Approvals and Project Payments by LAG as of 16 December 2018