Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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633. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 803 and 797 of 14 July 2020, if she will provide the specific information relating to the status of an application for funding under the rural regeneration and development fund for a group (details supplied); if the application as it stands will be considered for funding in a forthcoming tranche of the scheme; the reason for the failure of the application in the most recent round of announcements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18176/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The second call for Category 2 applications for the Fund closed on 28^thFebruary and there was an excellent response from all across the country, with 76 applications received.

On 25^thJune 2020, Minister Ring announced details of 24 successful projects arising from this call.  The successful projects have been allocated €13 million in support from the Fund and will deliver a total investment worth €17 million.  To date, the Fund has now allocated €161 million in support for 134 projects across Ireland, worth a combined total of €229 million.

The application process for the Fund is competitive in nature and applications undergo comprehensive scrutiny, involving assessment by my Department under the oversight of a Project Advisory Board, comprised of representatives from key Government Departments as well as independent experts. 

The overall quality of the applications received under the second call for Category 2 applications was extremely high. High priority was accorded to strategic projects that met the overall objectives of the Fund and the stated focus in this call on town and village regeneration. Not all projects that met these requirements could be funded under the first announcement due to budgetary constraints.  Any further announcement of successful projects under the second call will be in the context of available budgetary resources, informed by the outcome of the assessment process outlined above and the alignment of the projects with the objectives of the Fund.

Following completion of the second call for Category 2 applications, my Department will provide feedback as required to assist applicants to prepare for future calls.