Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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47. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the capital and current allocation to her Department for 2022; the expenditure to date of both the current and capital allocation including carry forward from 2021; the main underspends under both headings; the reason for same; if it is intended to carry forward unspent capital from 2022 to 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62720/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Following the recent supplementary estimate my Department has a gross budget of €389 million for 2022, of which €195 million is current and €194 million is capital. However, it should be noted that €10.5 million in capital funding was repurposed from capital to current to provide supports to assist the response to the Ukraine crisis, effectively reducing the capital budget to €183.5 million, which is supplemented by a €16.86 million carry forward from 2021 for use in 2022.

Gross current expenditure at December 8th amounted to €170 million, including the €10.5 million for Ukraine supports which was repurposed from capital to current. There are no areas of significant underspend, and year end current savings will be small across a number of current sub-heads, with a very strong outturn expected. The most significant remaining expenditure area relates to the recent supplementary allocation of €10 million for the energy support scheme for community and voluntary groups.

Gross capital expenditure at December 8th amounted to €176 million, including full use of the capital carry forward from 2021. Significant savings occurred within the A.7 Rural Regeneration and Development sub-head, which supports the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), Town and Village Renewal and the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme. This area had an allocation of €97 million, supplemented by €11.9 million in deferred surrender, giving a total budget of €108.9 million. Spend for this sub-head at December 8th stood at €66 million and I expect a final outturn of around €70 million. The savings in this area have been repurposed for the aforementioned Ukraine Supports, to increase funding for the Local Improvement Scheme by €11 million, to increase funding for the Community Centre Investment Fund (CCIF) by €5 million, and to increase LEADER funding by €4 million.

Delivery of capital projects in this area have been delayed as a result of the continued impact of COVID-19 on projects moving to construction, subsequent supply chain issues and, more recently inflation issues making procurement more challenging. However, progress has greatly improved in the second half of 2022, and there are 13 Category 1 projects complete, and a further 43 are at construction phase. Others are moving through formal approval and procurement processes.

I plan to carry forward €14.5 million of unspent capital funding from 2022, for use in 2023. Given the recent progress made with the RRDF and the CCIF, I expect an increased level of project completion in 2023, and the capital carryover will allow the Department to meet this funding requirement when it is needed.