The Minister of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Pat Carey TD, held a special meeting today with groups from all over Ireland to discuss the operation and potential of the Rural Development Programme. Minister Carey convened the meeting in the Tipperary Institute in Thurles to discuss the best way of moving the Programme forward at the pace required to deliver on the €425 million which Ireland has been allocated in the current round of funding.
It is estimated that the Leader Programme has the potential to deliver 12,000 jobs to rural Ireland.
This funding is almost triple that available in the previous LEADER+ programme.
Speaking after discussions with LAGS (Local Action Groups) from all over Ireland, Minister Carey described the meeting as “extremely beneficial to all parties”.
“Today’s meeting was all about addressing any issues that have lead to problems in the implementation of the Programme and about having a frank and informed debate on those issues. I think we were successful in doing that today and I am confident that we can make further progress in realizing the potential of Leader. I was delighted to listen to the views of the groups and was interested in particular to hear their concerns in relation to the inspector service. This is an area I will be examining immediately.”
Addressing the meeting in Tipperary earlier today, Minister Carey spoke of the “transformative potential” of the Leader Programme.
“Without LEADER rural Ireland would be a very different place to live and work,” he said.
Minister Carey said that while low expenditure under the Programme to date was a concern, progress was being made. He said that he was confident that any remaining obstacles could be overcome.
“I know that there are problems with banks lending money to both Community Groups and Private Promoters alike to make up the ‘private matching’ requirement but we must do everything in our power to achieve the required spend under the Programme.
In the past number of weeks I know that all groups, in co-operation with my Department, have been putting a tremendous effort into achieving the necessary spend target for 2010 and that there has been a significant improvement in the overall position.”
The Minister told the meeting that he was determined that “every cent of the €425 million allocated to Ireland would be spent by the time the Programme ends”.
Recently the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs has begun the process of reaching agreement with the EU Commission over a number of programme changes, including increases to the rates of Aid.
“We have a staggering €425 million to deliver on in this Programme and we must all work together and get on with the job at hand if we are to create jobs and see Ireland benefit from this money.”