Written answers

Tuesday, 25 May 2021

Department of Rural and Community Development

Departmental Funding

Photo of Paul DonnellyPaul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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45. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if there has been funding implemented solely to cover the cost of funding and upskilling within community projects. [27960/21]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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A feature of the LEADERprogramme is that it is based on a community-led local development, bottom-up approach to rural development.

Financial supports are available for training type projects for community and voluntary groups. The types of training projects funded depends on the specific training needs that are identified by the project promoters and associated demand in their local area. The maximum rate of aid available for training projects is 100% of eligible costs and examples of such projects include inter alia; ICT, Biodiversity and Business Development.

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 LEADER sub-regional area concerned, and it must comply with the Operating Rules and EU Regulations in place for the programme.

The decision to approve any project, including the level of funding to be awarded and the applicable rate of aid is a matter for each Local Action Group (LAG) which administers the programme in each LEADER area. Interested applicants should, in the first instance, contact the relevant LAG through its Implementing Partner to discuss the eligibility of the project and the funding that may be available.

The list of all Local Action Groups, their Implementing Partners and their contact details, is available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/c45498-local-action-groups.

Specifically for social enterprises, the €800K Dormant Accounts Funded Social Enterprise COVID-19 Regeneration Programmewill provide training and mentoring to social enterprise with a focus on four themes, strategic planning, digital innovation, capacity building and governance, and will assist social enterprises to repurpose or diversify their trading income while living in a COVID-19 operating environment.

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