Departmental Budgets
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Conor D. McGuinness (SF), Waterford

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire for confirming that. I understand that the LEADER programme is a five-year programme and that there may be peaks and troughs, but a €10 million reduction in the budget this year compared with last year is still €10 million of a reduction. I welcome the fact that that money is not lost. It is not out of the budget and the Minister will bring it back. However, there is a growing sense of disillusionment in rural communities, that it is on the back foot and its days are numbers, and that there seems to be indifference from Government to the plight of rural Ireland. There is a growing need for diversification. I do not need to tell the Minister about the debate in this House last night and over the past number of weeks, and the crisis in confidence that exists in Irish agriculture. I do not need to tell him about the crisis in the Irish fishing industry. As part of the wider rural development issue, what LEADER crucially does is support economic diversification, creating opportunities in rural communities. It is concerning that €10 million has been taken out of it this year.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05