Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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606. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of applications by category 1 and 2 projects made under the rural regeneration and development fund by county to date; the number of successful and unsuccessful project applications, respectively per category that applied for funding per county; the successful projects by county that have been approved for funding per category; the value of funding approved for each such project; when successful applicants will receive funding in 2019; the amount allocated for the fund in 2019, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3082/19]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Under Project Ireland 2040, the Government has committed €1 billion to the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund over a 10 year period to support rural economic development and help build strong communities.  The Fund has been allocated €315m over the period 2019 to 2022, with €55m set aside in my Department's budget for successful projects in 2019.  The respective allocations for the years 2020 to 2022 will be confirmed as part of the annual budgetary process. 

The first call for applications for the Fund closed at the end of September and there was an excellent response from all across the country, with 280 applications received.  A breakdown of applications received by Category and County is set out in the Table 1. 

Applications for the Fund are currently being examined by the Project Advisory Board, made up of representatives from key Government Departments and external experts, which was established to oversee the assessment process.  Category 1 "shovel ready" projects were prioritised in the assessment process in the first instance and Category 2 projects - those which need development funding to become potential Category 1 applications in future calls for applications - are also now being considered.

I announced the first set of 18 successful Category 1 projects for funding on the 23rd November 2018. Details of funding allocated to successful applications by County is set out in Table 2.  My Department is currently engaging with the 18 successful lead applicants as part of the due diligence process and contractual arrangements, including payment milestones, will be finalised shortly.

A further announcement detailing successful Category 1 and Category 2 projects will take place early in 2019, with a second call for the Fund taking place later in the year.

Table 1. Applications by County and Category

Table 2. Successful RRDF Applications by County