Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

27. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will examine a funding line for the upgrading of school buildings and adjacent lands where there is a shared access for the local community. [62546/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department of Education has primary responsibility for the provision of funding for school facilities.

While the range of schemes operated by my Department are not targeted at upgrading school buildings per se, there may be limited instances where projects located on school grounds may be supported. Such projects need to be fully open and accessible to local communities in order to be eligible for funding.

My Department's CLÁR Programme, for example, funds small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of de-population over a defined period. The Programme provides funding for community amenities and facilities such as playgrounds, Multi Use Games Areas (MUGAs) and sensory gardens, including those located on school grounds, once they are fully open and accessible to the public.

Funding may also be available under the LEADER programme. The LEADER programme is a key intervention which will help underpin the Government's rural development goals as outlined in Our Rural Future. It is delivered through 29 Local Action Groups (LAGs) across rural Ireland. A feature of the LEADER programme is that it is based on a community-led, bottom-up approach to rural development. Support under the LEADER programme is provided under a broad range of themes and funding may be available through the LEADER Programme for the type of project referred to by the Deputy.

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 for the relevant LEADER area and it must comply with the Operating Rules and EU Regulations in place for the programme.

Prospective applicants should, in the first instance, contact their 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.