Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Supporting the development of resilient and sustainable communities is at the heart of my Department's mission and, as part of that, we are working with local communities to help Ireland's transition to a low carbon, sustainable and climate resilient society through the wide range of programmes, supports and initiatives we deliver.

While we do not provide direct funding to transition year groups in rural communities at present, my Department is increasing awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals through the Tidy Towns Competition with the alignment of categories in the 2021 Tidy Towns Competition to the Sustainable Development Goals, including those related to Climate Action.

My Department also provides relevant supports through the Dormant Accounts Fund, through the Social Enterprise and Social Innovation Fund measures, and the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme. Grants to applicants have included those for providing home insulation services, reducing our food waste, sustainable energy actions, bee-keeping and training in thermal insulation installation.

Additionally, programmes such as the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme support the diversification of the rural economy and the effective use of communities' areas of natural heritage, creating employment opportunities associated with local tourism projects such as Greenways and Blueways and through funding for enterprise hubs and other projects.

My Department will continue to keep each of the schemes and programmes we administer under review, to ensure they complement the overall objectives of sustainability.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1265 and 1267 together.

The LEADER programme is a key intervention implemented by my Department which will help to underpin the Government's rural development goals as outlined in Our Rural Future.

The programme is co-funded by the EU under Pillar II the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is Ireland's Managing Authority for the CAP and thus has lead responsibility for negotiations of the new CAP which is to be introduced from 2023.

An indicative allocation of €180 million has been made to the LEADER Programme for the 2023-2027 period as part of the new CAP Strategic Plan. In conjunction with the funding of €70 million for the LEADER Transitional Programme announced earlier this year, this indicative allocation will result in total funding of €250 million being made available for LEADER over the period 2021 – 2027. This allocation maintains the level of funding provided for the 2014-2020 programming period. Table 1 below gives a breakdown on the LEADER allocations for the periods as requested by the Deputy. It should be noted that the original allocations for LEADER in the 2007-2013 period were revised on foot of the agreement with the EU Commission of a formal amendment to the 2007-2013 Rural Development Programme - both allocations are included in the table below.

A draft of the CSP is due to be submitted by DAFM to the European Commission early 2022, and a formal negotiation and agreement process will then commence on all elements of the CSP, including the financial allocations across all the proposed schemes contained in the CSP. As this process develops, consultation with stakeholders will continue.

Table 1: LEADER Programme Allocations

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1266, 1268 and 1269 together.

The original allocation for the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 was almost €400 million.

LEADER funding for the 2007-2013 programming period was not allocated based on county boundaries but to individual Local Action Groups (LAGs) on completion of the Local Development Strategy process. The allocations were revised in 2013 on foot of the formal amendment of the Rural Development Programme, resulting in a decrease in the overall programme allocation.

Table 1 below provides a breakdown of the 2007-2013 Programme allocations, including the original and revised allocations.

The 2014-2020 LEADER programme had a total allocation of €250 million. €225 million of this budget was allocated directly to the LAGs who deliver the programme and approve projects at local level. Funding was allocated to each LAG for the full duration of the Programme to give greater flexibility to the LAGs to manage their resources.

The balance of €25 million is provided for thematic projects which are approved at national level.

In December 2020, I launched the Transitional LEADER Programme, which came into effect from 1 April 2021 and will run to the end of 2022. A total of €70 million has been made available over this programming period. €65 million of this budget is available to LAGs who deliver the programme and approve projects at local level. This funding is distributed between the LAGs on a pro-rata basis, commensurate with the allocations made at the start of the 2014-2020 LEADER programme.

A further €3 million of the funding has been allocated to support Co-operation projects and innovation between LAGs, while the remaining €2 million is being provided to support strategy development for the next LEADER programme.

Table 2 below provides details of the LAG allocations for the 2014-2020 and Transitional LEADER Programmes.

The new LEADER programme will commence in 2023. I recently announced the indicative allocation for the new LEADER programme of €180m. Taken together with the €70m secured for the transitional programme this gives a total funding allocation of €250m for the originally envisaged 7 year programming period from 2021- 2027.

Table 1: LEADER 2007-2013 programme allocations

*Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta (MFG) went into liquidation in 2012

Table 2: Funding Allocations for the 2014-2020 and 2021-2022 LEADER Programmes

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The LEADER + Programme which operated from 2000 to 2006 had a total allocation of €72 million and was delivered by 22 Local Action Groups (LAGs) throughout the country.

Table 1 below provides a breakdown of the LEADER allocations for the LEADER + period.

Table 1 - Local Action Group Allocations 2000 – 2006