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Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has today welcomed an allocation of €180 million to the LEADER programme for the period 2023-2027.
The indicative allocation, agreed as part of the new CAP Strategic Plan (CSP), will form the basis of public consultation ahead of its formal submission to the European Commission next year.
Combined with the €70 million Minister Humphreys secured for the LEADER Transition Programme, the total funding for LEADER over the next seven years will be €250 million.
This is the equivalent investment secured for the previous LEADER programme, which ran over the period 2014-2020.
Welcoming the funding allocation for LEADER, Minister Humphreys said:
“Last year, I launched the €70 million LEADER Transitional Programme in order to continue to support rural communities and enterprises while a new programme was being developed.
“Today’s indicative allocation of €180 million means we will be in a postion, once again, to provide an overall investment for LEADER of €250 million until 2027.
“Investing in LEADER is a key commitment in ‘Our Rural Future’, the Government’s five-year strategy for rural development.
“The overall funding of €250 million means LEADER will continue to deliver for rural communities, as it has done so for over three decades.”
Over the past year, a number of stakeholder engagements have taken place on the design of the next LEADER programme and the new CAP Strategic Plan as a whole.
The indicative allocation announced today will now form part of the next stage of the stakeholder consultation that will commence shortly.
Minister Humphreys continued:
“Since its inception, the LEADER programme, through its ‘bottom up’ approach, has supported the delivery of locally-led projects the length and breadth of the country.
“The indicative funding allocation announced today will ensure that communities will continue to have the financial support to meet the new and emerging challenges across rural areas.
“Overall, the allocations announced across all the draft Measures for the new CAP Strategic Plan underpin the Government’s continued commitment to ensuring economic and social development throughout rural Ireland.
“I want to finally recognise the work of my Cabinet Colleague, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, who has played a leading role in developing the new CAP Strategic Plan.”
Our Rural Future is the whole-of-government policy for rural Ireland for the period 2021-2025. It represents a new milestone in the approach to rural development policy for Ireland and adopts a more strategic, ambitious and holistic approach to investing in and maximising opportunities for rural areas.