Community Development Projects
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
============================================================

Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

I thank the Deputy for his question. LEADER, as he knows, is a community-led approach to local development that has been operating for just over 35 years. We marked the 35th anniversary of LEADER just last weekend. It was introduced by the EU under the then Commissioner Ray MacSharry. The programme has evolved through successive programming periods and in 2007 it was mainstreamed into the Common Agricultural Policy and became a key intervention within Ireland’s rural development programme.
Since 2007 the total amount of EU and Exchequer funding allocated to LEADER on a national level has been over €876 million. Of this, the local action group in Offaly has received a total allocation of approximately €27.5 million. This total allocation is broken down over a number of programming periods with the most recent allocation in Offaly totalling €6.2 million in respect of the current 2023-27 LEADER programme. In keeping with the multi-annual nature of LEADER, all allocations are made at the start of each programming period and funds are drawn down from my Department as projects are completed. This approach ensures local action groups have the flexibility to manage LEADER support flexibly and in line with specific local needs. To date, 49 projects have been approved in Offaly under the current programme and I expect further projects to come on line as we progress through the programming period.
LEADER has a commendable track record in delivering locally driven projects that have delivered real benefits in Offaly and all across the country. I continue to advocate for a strong and well-funded LEADER programme. l am working closely with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, on the future of LEADER in the context of the CAP talks at the moment. I am confident the bottom-up approach of LEADER can continue to support valuable projects in Offaly for years to come.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26