Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2378. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the reason County Westmeath only received €218,000 in CLÁR funding for 2018 (details supplied); the reason the total received is less in comparative terms than 2017 when the county received over €300,000 from a total budget of €5 million; and the reason no project in County Westmeath was awarded funding under measure 2 of CLÁR in 2018. [33441/18]
View answerCLÁR is a targeted capital investment programme for rural areas which have experienced significant levels of depopulation.
I launched the 2018 CLÁR programme on the 15th March last, with an indicative allocation of €5 million for qualifying projects under the following measures:
Measure 1: Support for Schools/Community Safety Measures
Measure 2: Play Areas/Multi-Use Games Areas
Measure 3: First Response Support Measure
Applications under Measures 1 and 2 were submitted by Local Authorities following the receipt of expressions of interest and in consultation with communities in their CLÁR areas.
Applications under Measure 3 were invited from established organisations or groups that operate entirely on a voluntary basis and are involved in emergency rescue or first response efforts.
Funding under the CLÁR programme is not allocated on a county basis, nor by reference to previous funding. The final allocations are based on the level of qualifying applications received.
In recent weeks, I approved 310 successful projects for total funding of €8.7 million across the three Measures under the 2018 CLÁR programme. It should be noted that all applications which met the eligibility and qualifying criteria under each of the Measures were approved for funding.
Westmeath County Council submitted 12 applications under Measure 1 of the programme, seeking a total of €210,300 in funding. Of these, 11 applications were approved, to a total value of €180,300. Evidence of planning approval for remaining project was not provided, as required under the programme guidelines.
The Council also submitted three applications totaling €144,567 under Measure 2. However, all of these were unsuccessful, as evidence of planning approval was not provided for the proposed projects.
Under Measure 3, five applications were received from organisations or groups based in County Westmeath, requesting total funding of €57,661. One of these applications was successful and was awarded funding of €38,250. Unsuccessful applicants under this Measure did not satisfy the requirement of being established first responders as set out under the terms of the programme.
