Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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939. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development her plans to increase the CLÁR measure 4 grant to cover the cost of vehicle registration tax for mountain rescue organisations securing new vehicles for use in their vital rescue functions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4176/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The CLÁR programme provides funding for small scale projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of de-population.

Since the programme was relaunched in 2016 it has supported a range of different Measures, including the First Response Support Measure which I understand is the Measure referred to in the Deputy's question.

The First Response Support Measure provided funding for vehicles and equipment directly involved in emergency rescue or first response efforts. Funding of approximately €2.8 million was provided to 144 projects under the First Response Measure from 2017 to 2019.

The Measures to be included in the CLÁR Programme are reviewed and revised each year. In 2020, new Measures were introduced to support CLÁR communities to deal with the impact of Covid-19 in their areas. As a result, funding was not provided for the First Response Support Measure in 2020.

Details of the Measures to be included for support this year will be announced when I launch the 2021 CLÁR Programme in the coming months.