Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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2575. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount of funding allocated through the LEADER Programme in each of the years 2015 to 2020, inclusive by county; the way in which measures of rurality influenced the awarding of funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19402/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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LEADER is a multi-annual programme with a total budget of €250 million to be allocated over the period 2014-2020.

The programme, which is co-funded by the EU, is based on a local-led, bottom-up approach to rural development. The programme supports projects from local community groups and businesses which, amongst other objectives, promote economic development, social inclusion and the protection of the rural environment.

The programme is administered at local level by Local Action Group (LAGs) across the country who are responsible for selecting and awarding LEADER funding to projects within their own geographical area. In order for a project to be eligible for LEADER funding, it must be compatible with the actions outlined in the approved Local Development Strategy in the area concerned, and it must comply with the Operating Rules and EU Regulations in place for the programme.

In December last, I announced details of a Transitional LEADER Programme for the period 2021-2022. I also extended the timeframe for project approvals under the 2014-2020 LEADER programme to the 31 March 2021 with the Transitional Programme coming into effect from 1 April 2021.

Over 4,400 projects with a value of over €184 million have been approved for LEADER funding by the LAGs since the signing of the Funding Agreements in mid-2016. As such, there were no project approvals in 2015.

Table 1 below shows the LEADER projects as approved, broken-down by county on an annual basis up to 31st March 2021.

The investment in these projects make a significant contribution to the development of rural communities across Ireland.