Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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522. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the capital and current projects within her Department that received EU funding in 2022, 2023 and to-date in 2024; the amount of EU funding received per project per year, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28105/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department utilises EU funding across three broad areas, the LEADER Programme, the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), and the PEACE Programmes.

The LEADER programme is co-funded by the EU. Under LEADER 2014-2022 capital programme a total of €250 million in grant aid was made available to rural communities and businesses. This included a split of 37.2% funding from my Department and 62.8% funding from the EU. An additional €70 million was allocated for the Transitional LEADER programme 2021-2022 under the European Union Recovery Instrument Fund. This fund was established by the European Union to support recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and was 100% EU funded.

In 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024 LEADER has funded 2,308 projects to the value of €73,092,869, that includes €49,918,216 EU funding. A breakdown of EU funding received per project for the years referred to are included in the attached appendix. Further details regarding the individual projects funded in each area can be viewed online on the website.

The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2018-2023 was a current programme that was co-funded by my Department and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) 2021-2027. The Department is currently preparing a financial claim to submit to the European Social Fund for SICAP for the years, 2021, 2022 and 2023, in line with the timelines set down at EU level. The ESF+ allocation for SICAP is €72 million over the lifetime of the Employment, Inclusion, Skills and Training programme (EIST) 2021-27. To date, there have been no receipts for this programme for the period requested.

In relation to the PEACE Programmes my Department provides pre-financing funding to the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), who manages the EU co-funded cross border PEACE IV Programme 2014 -2020 and PEACEPLUS Programme 2021-2027. These Programmes are managed and administered by the SEUPB. The core programme area includes Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland, namely Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth. My Department does not draw down funds based on individual projects, rather it is based on the contribution to the SEUPB. In that context, there was €4.978 million recouped from the EU in 2022, and €4.338 million recouped in 2023. Details of all projects supported under the PEACE IV Programme are available on the :