Rural development pro jects being operated under the EU's Rural Development programme, Leader II, have received a major boost with the announcement of major changes to the £87.5 million scheme.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, Mr Noel Davern, said that following a submission to the Commission, changes have been agreed in Leader operations.
These are:
The requirement on the approved groups to contribute to administration costs will be reduced from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.
There will be improved rates of aid for tourism projects from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.
Projects involving Community Enterprise will receive 70 per cent funding, rather than 50 per cent grants.
Investment on the islands will attract a premium of 10 per cent over the normal rates.
The contribution of own labour as private matching funding in private projects will now be recognised.
There will be a relaxation in the current position on phased payments.
Mr Davern said the changes were an enormous boost for the programme and would encourage further community development in particular. They would also improve the ability of the approved groups to contribute to the development of their areas.
He said the current rate of progress under the programme was discussed at the Leader II monitoring committee earlier in the week and while the rate of progress varies between the groups, the programme is gathering momentum in almost all areas.
The Minister said that about £40 million of the £87.5 million allocated to the groups has been spent or committed.
A national Leader conference is to be convened by the Minister on December 1st to review the current situation.