My department delivers a number of schemes under the Rural Development Investment Programme, including, for example, the LEADER Programme, the Community Centre Investment Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund.
It should be noted that the responsibility for identifying and selecting local priorities and submitting applications in response to departmental calls for proposals is often delegated to our project partners including local authorities. In respect of LEADER, the local action group is responsible for selecting and approving projects in its respective area.
In providing for a transparent and equitable treatment of proposals or applications for funding, the competitive assessment and approval of projects will have regard to a number of factors including alignment with Our Rural Future, Town Centre First plans, geographic spread, the range, mix, quality and impact of proposed projects, relevant local development strategies, past project delivery performance of local authorities and previous funding provided.
Further details on these programmes are provided below.
The LEADER programme supports the development of Ireland’s rural areas and covers all parts of Ireland with the exception of the five main cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway. In rural areas of Dublin, including the five areas referenced by the Deputy, a total budget of €4.7 million is available to the LEADER Local Action Group for the period from 2023 to 2027. This was allocated to the area using a national methodology which takes population density as well as deprivation levels into account.
The Community Centre Investment Fund (CCIF) was introduced to provide high quality, accessible, community spaces that are available to all groups in all communities in both rural and urban areas. Almost €1.4 million has been allocated to 34 projects in the Dublin Fingal region since 2022.
I was delighted to launch the latest round of funding under CCIF 2026 on March 26th. The closing date has now passed, and the appraisal process has commenced. I look forward to announcing the successful projects later in the year.
The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) provides funding for the development and enhancement of outdoor recreational infrastructure such as walking trails, cycleways, water-based recreation sites and mountain trails. Since 2020, funding of over €420,000 has been approved for 11 projects in the Dublin Fingal region.
ORIS is currently open for applications with funding of up to €500,000 available for the development and enhancement of outdoor recreational infrastructure.
The Town and Village Renewal Scheme (TVRS) is one of my Department’s schemes to support the revitalisation of rural towns and villages across Ireland. While it primarily targets funding at areas with populations of less than 10,000 people, applications for towns with populations of up to 15,000 people are also accepted where the project is of a high quality, displays good value for money and has the potential to significantly benefit the town. Since the launch of TVRS in 2016 over €210 million has been allocated to over 1,900 projects across Ireland. Of this over €3.7 million has been allocated to 45 projects across Fingal.
Administered by my Department, the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (‘RRDF’) is a major capital investment scheme which supports large-scale, ambitious projects which can achieve sustainable economic and social development in rural areas in line with the Town Centre First Policy. The focus of the RRDF is on our rural towns and villages with a population of less than 10,000 people. To date, the RRDF has allocated over €610 million for 270 projects across Ireland. Each RRDF Call for proposals has a defined set of objectives and criteria, including population criteria, which are reviewed in advance of each call.
It should be noted that the Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund is administered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. This acts as a parallel fund to the RRDF supporting the rejuvenation of Ireland’s five cities and other large towns with populations of over 9,000.
I am committed to ensuring that my Department will continue to support high quality and transformational projects across rural Ireland in line with the objectives of Our Rural Future and the Town Centre First policy.
