by Alan Jacques
LEADER funding of almost €9.3million that was allocated to Limerick this week has been welcomed as an indication of the Government’s ongoing investment in the county.
Fine Gael TD Dan Neville said it demonstrated the Government’s commitment to County Limerick as he welcomed the funding package of €9,276,593.96 for the LEADER element of the county’s Rural Development Programme.
“The economic recovery is underway and the Government is determined that the recovery is felt in every corner of Ireland. Investment in the LEADER programme is of huge significance to Limerick”.
“The LEADER programme is all about community led projects; it is focused on making the recovery local. Once approval for the programme has been given by the European Commission, Local Action Groups of Limerick will be invited to submit ideas for how funding should be spent. These groups will be set up in accordance with the EU Regulations and will consist of representatives across public and private socio-economic interests,” he explained.
His party colleague Deputy Patrick O’Donovan said the announcement of LEADER funding, together with other recently announced initiatives for rural areas, will make a massive difference to rural communities across Ireland.
“This LEADER Funding allocation comes after the recently announced Rural Development Programme which will see €4billion being pumped into rural communities. The announcement comes shortly after the news that the United States and China have opened their markets to Irish beef. These are major boosts for the rural economy, providing real jobs for families in counties like Limerick,” Deputy O’Donovan commented.
LABOUR Party councillor for Limerick City East, Elena Secas, said that the LEADER funding for County Limerick will be used to support sustainable economic development projects for rural communities ranging from tourism, agri-food and other business activities.
“This funding will be specifically targeted at tackling social inclusion, rural isolation as well as increasing the capacity of rural communities to participate in economic development,” she said.
