Departmental Programmes
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01
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Nessa Cosgrove (LAB), Labour Panel

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I know he is well aware of all the LEADER programmes and the great work they do. I listened to "Morning Ireland" this morning where the Taoiseach was unable to give a straight answer not only about where the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, funding is going to be spent but also in respect of LEADER projects. The local development companies are particularly vulnerable within the overall CAP budget. The Minister of State knows the amazing work they do on the ground to address poverty and to promote economic development and social inclusion. It is hard for those programmes to plan if the money is not going to be ring-fenced. The MEPs in the Minister of State's party have been engaged on this. All parties have been committed to this. I would love to know what commitment we can give. Even if it is not within the CAP budget, is money going to be ring-fenced?
There is also the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, budget. Is the new community and new arrivals portion of that budget going to remain in place? Whether we like it or not, is it going to stay in place? The SICAP budget usually comes quite late. For local development companies, the SICAP budget arrives quite late, but because there is this additional new arrivals fund, they were able to manage the fund themselves. However, if that new arrivals money is not going to be there, when is the money going to be given to SICAP? Can we be sure of a date?
There are real concerns that there is a move towards military spending. It is not just LEADER companies. The Minister of State knows this. The Sligo and Leitrim LEADER programmes provide amazing opportunities, as do the programmes across the country. However, there is a worry that the CAP budget is going to decrease and will go towards more militarisation.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-01