Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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908. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if he is considering a review of the current successful funding schemes within his Department, such as the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme, town and village scheme, Clár, community centres investment fund development, and the rural regeneration and development fund, to review maximum spending categories and variation of the schemes to include feedback from communities and local authorities. [14116/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to reassure the Deputy that the schemes he refers to continue to be reviewed and revised in conjunction with stakeholders and in the context of the evolving needs of communities around the country.

My Department's capital schemes operate on the basis of periodic ‘Calls for Proposals’. In advance of each call, the terms and conditions attached to each scheme are reviewed. In this review, my officials consider experience emerging from previous ‘Calls for Proposals’ together with ongoing feedback from communities, elected representatives and stakeholders such as local authorities and local development companies.

This includes a consideration of the measures to be funded, scheme eligibility, funding levels etc. This process has seen the schemes evolve and the level of funding increase over the past number of years.

For example, I recently launched a ‘Call for Proposals’ under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme which saw the funding ceiling for mid-range projects increase from €250,000 to €300,000. In order to reflect the North West Region’s EU designation as a Region in Transition, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund has amended scheme conditionality to increase the funding available and allow applicants in that region receive up to 90% of project costs.

Under the current iteration of the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme, the level of funding for smaller measure 1 projects was increased from €30,000 to €40,000. My officials are also in the process of reviewing the details of the CLÁR scheme for my consideration.

I can reassure the deputy that my Department will continue to review the approach to the delivery of these funding programmes, particularly as part of the consultation process this year for the successor to ‘Our Rural Future’, the Government’s rural development policy.