MINISTER FOR Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Eamon Ó Cuív, has told the Leader rural development groups he will not give them funding after July 4th next if they do not hold elections to the new groups that replace them.
The Leader groups are being replaced by Leader/Partnership groups in the new Rural Development Programme, and the Government has sought detailed five-year plans from them.
The change was delayed by nearly two years due to a row between the department and some Leader groups on composition of the new boards and the areas they would cover. The Cavan- Monaghan Leader group did not want its dual-county system to be broken up and replaced by a board in each county.
Because of the delay in implementing the new €425 million scheme, the 50 existing companies are operating under interim funding from the department.
But now the Minister is linking the continuing flow of interim funding to these groups to the holding of elections for setting up the new bodies that will administer the scheme.
“I am linking continuing funding with democracy because I am firmly convinced that the new plans to be submitted by July 4th should be signed off by the new cohesed companies before submission,” he said.
“It is inexplicable that this might still not be possible without further delaying the roll-out of the new programme,” he said.
He said an indication of Government support for rural development had been its continued interim funding to Leader groups to help them close the old programme and retain valuable experience in the sector.
“Let me be quite clear. The application process for the new Leader programme finishes on July 4th next. Following that date I do not see any case for my department to continue to provide interim funding to groups who have not fully cohesed and who have not taken concrete steps to comply with the governance guidelines,” said Mr Ó Cuív.
“This is also true of my department’s other programmes, such as the Rural Social Scheme and rural recreation measures. The seriousness of our intentions will also be unambiguous when it comes to signing contracts for the delivery of the new programme,” he said.
It is understood that only five of the 50 bodies involved have held elections so far.