Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 May 2025
388. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the proportion of LEADER funding allocated specifically to projects within Gaeltacht areas over the past five years; and if he will assess the impact of the programme on sustaining linguistic and economic development in these communities. [21885/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe LEADER Programme supports a broad range of enterprises and community groups to develop projects which improve the quality of life and economic activity in rural areas. It is delivered through Local Action Groups across rural Ireland, facilitating a community-led, bottom-up approach to rural development.
The LEADER programme is a multi-annual programme, with the current programme running to 2027, and therefore information is provided for each programming period.
In the period 2014-2022, 225 projects with a value of €7.3 million were recorded by individual Local Action Groups as having received an allocation of funding in Gaeltacht areas.
Project approvals under the 2023-2027 LEADER programme are at the early stage of the programming period as Local Action Groups engage with applicants to generate high quality project proposals. I look forward to seeing the level of approvals grow in the coming months as applications are progressed, including for Gaeltacht areas.
LEADER projects have common performance indicators associated with a particular programme sub-theme, which will facilitate monitoring and measuring of programme effectiveness. While there are no performance indicators specific for linguistic development in the current programme, the investment outlined above demonstrates my Department's support of Gaeltacht areas through LEADER. It is also of note that the current LEADER programme includes a number of new requirements designed to strengthen the implementation and impact of LEADER on our offshore islands.
