Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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96. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if the budget will be increased for the Leader Transitional Programme for 2021-2023 to take account of rising construction costs. [60251/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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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.

I announced details of a €70 million Transitional LEADER Programme which came into effect last April and will cover the period 2021-2022. €65 million of this budget has been allocated to the LAGs who deliver the programme and approve projects at local level. This allocation covers both core project expenditure and the administration and animation costs of the LAGs.

A further €3 million of the funding has been allocated to support co-operation projects and innovation between LAGs, while the remaining €2 million has been allocated to provide preparatory support for the next LEADER programme.

I am confident that this level of funding will be sufficient to meet the demand for grant funding from rural communities and businesses and to continue the effective operation of the transitional LEADER Programme through to the end of 2022.