ONLY €19 million of the €448 million allocated by the Government for rural development groups like Leader, has been drawn down so far.
The Government made provision for €448 million to cover the funding of rural development groups during 2007-2013 but only 4 per cent of the total has been paid out by March last.
The Department of Agriculture figures were circulated yesterday by the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) in a submission on rural development as part of the consultation process on the Common Agriculture Policy (Cap) post 2013.
There has been some tension in the past between farmers and other rural dwellers on how the EU’s rural development funding should be used.
John Bryan, the IFA president, said the European Commission must implement a rural development programme which puts agriculture as the main driver of economic activity in rural areas.
Farming, he said, underpins the rural economy and society by improving the environment and supporting local employment and businesses. “This must be at the core of rural development policy in the next round of funding,” Mr Bryan said.
He said the key priorities for Ireland were to improve competitiveness at farm level, encourage restructuring of the agriculture sector, preserve agriculture and other economic activity in rural areas and protect the rural environment and landscape.
He said it was also a priority to encourage enterprise development and employment in the rural economy.
“In order to meet these challenges, an annual EU allocation of € 400 million for rural development programmes must be secured by the Government for Ireland post 2013,” he said.
IFA rural development chairman Tom Turley said recent Government cutbacks meant that schemes like farm improvement, installation aid and early retirement have been suspended.