Rural voluntarism ‘devastated’ by cuts to Leader funding
Mr Roche said that the 2007 to 2014 Leader programme for Cork county was allocated €49m, but this has been cut to less than €14m for the 2015 to 2020 programme, a cut of more than 72%. He warns that rural Cork’s ability to create employment will be devastated as a result.
“The recent notice from the Department of Environment of funding for Co Cork under the Leader programme was a devastating blow to rural Cork, and a further indication of the slash and burn rural Ireland policy of the present government. The Leader programme has helped rural Ireland to survive over the last 20 years, with local voluntary community groups working with their communities, developing their own strategies. It’s time rural TDs woke up and fight for the 2.1m people living in rural Ireland,” he said.
Since 1999, Leader has supported 8,698 enterprises. Leader created 4,084 jobs during the worst economic crisis the country has experienced in recent decades, said the ex-IRD Duhallow executive.
“Leader has helped communities to develop local infrastructures and make their own areas better places to live in. All this has been achieved against a background of daily cuts in public services post office closures, garda station closures, and threats of school closures.”
Mr Roche also notes the Commission For Economic Development of Rural Areas has highlighted that unemployment in rural areas has increased by 192% between 2000 and 2011 compared with 114% in urban areas.
Meanwhile, Ballyhoura Development has also raised concerns as to the methodology employed in allocating the funds. The Cork-based Leader group notes that Cork has taken the worst hit.
“The allocation to Co Cork at just 6.3% of the national Leader budget of €220m, is down 70% on the previous allocation,” said Ballyhoura chairman John Walsh.
“The allocation methodology has provided some counties with allocations of €155 per rural resident while Co Cork has received just €34. The decreased allocation, the highest decrease in the country, will have a significant impact on the ability of community-based project promoters to access support for vital community services and facilities and will negatively impact on business development growth and employment across rural areas of the county.”
He said allocation of budgets to each county in advance of the development of Local Development Strategies was unprecedented.
“All previous Leader allocations were made on merit, as measured by the quality of the Local Development Strategy submitted and evaluated against agreed criteria. Local development companies, with their bottom-up ethos have been the vehicles through which Leader funding has been dispersed.”
