Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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22. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the extent to which he has sufficient resources available to meet requests for grant aid or other forms of assistance from both rural and urban areas nationally and County Kildare in particular; the extent to which he has allocated such funding to date in 2019; the extent or value of applications pending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30440/19]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My Department funds a range of programmes and schemes that provide financial assistance and other supports to eligible community groups and organisations in urban and rural areas throughout the country, including in Kildare. These schemes provide much needed funding, support and assistance to communities at local level.

These include the €1 billion Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the LEADER programme; the Community Enhancement Programme, the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme; the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP); the Town and Village Renewal Scheme; and the Community Services Programme.

My Department has been provided with a gross budget of €294.2 million for 2019 and I intend to ensure that this money is fully allocated through these and other schemes under my Department's remit.

I can confirm that, to date, more than €196 million of this budget has been allocated nationally, with in excess of €5.4 million allocated to projects and organisations in Co Kildare.

Requests for assistance under particular programmes can be made at the appropriate time in respect of the application period for each programme, and these details, along with eligibility criteria and other information, can be found on the Government's website, gov.ie.

The value of the applications pending will be determined following their assessment under the various schemes, later in 2019.