Despite the incredible spin on the part of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, on Monday last and by the Government in the context of various announcements regarding the rural development programme, the reality is that Leader funding for rural communities throughout the country has been slashed in an incredible manner by the Government in its programme for the period 2014 to 2020. The funding in question has been cut by 43%, which means that towns and villages in rural areas will lose services relating to child care and rural transport and supports for start-up businesses. The cuts to which I refer are absolutely brutal in terms of the sheer scale involved. Some €376 million was allocated under the programme for the period 2007 to 2013 but under the new programme, which covers the period 2014 to 2020, the allocation is only €220 million.

As far as I can see, funding for all counties - with the exception of two - is going to be savagely cut. Incredibly, County Cork is going to lose up to 71% of its funding. I do not know what the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney was doing when that decision was made. Perhaps he was fast asleep at the wheel.

He was in a-----

County Kilkenny is going to lose up to 50% of its funding, as will counties Donegal, Meath, Kerry and Tipperary. The Minister, Deputy Kelly, proudly proclaimed on "Morning Ireland" that he has brought €10 million to County Tipperary. Some €25 million was allocated in respect of that county under the previous programme. To add insult to injury, the independence and autonomy of Leader and rural development companies has been fatally undermined by the Government. For the first time ever - I am not saying this it is being said by the companies to which I refer - the Government has decided that before the open competition for funding happens, it is going to divvy up the overall pot and allocate a budget per county. Not only is the funding going to be dramatically and substantially reduced, the Government has decided to take away-----

Stroke.

-----the essential ethos of the programme, which was previously about independent companies empowering local communities, as part of a politicisation of it. That process of politicisation was begun by the former Minister, Phil Hogan, who went off to the European Commission, and continued by the current Minister, Deputy Kelly.

The way in which the Government has dealt with this matter is a scandal in itself. It has undermined the companies to which I refer and subsumed them into local authority structures. It has also undermined what was best international practice in so doing. The European Union lauded the model that was originally put in place in respect of Leader and rural development companies. What is being done by the Government in this instance represents a brutal assault on rural Ireland. Will the Taoiseach reverse the cuts and restore, for the period 2014 to 2020, the funding that is necessary in order to, at a minimum, maintain the level and quality of services that have been provided in rural areas by the companies to which I refer? Will he see to it that the Government reverts to the tried and tested model which previously worked effectively and which was lauded by the European Union as honouring the intention behind the programme the latter originally designed?

The rural development programme was dealt with as part of the process of the Irish Presidency of the European Union in the early part of 2013. It was successfully negotiated and attracted the approval of the European Parliament. There is a fund of €4 billion available for rural Ireland.

Will the Taoiseach speak up? We cannot hear him on this side of the House.

The allocation for the rural development programme is €250 million and each county has now been notified of the amount it will receive for the period ahead.

Deputy Martin will be aware that there has been a change in the nature of the relationship between local authorities, on which public representatives serve, and different organisations and agencies, including the Leader groups. Those groups have done fabulous work in many areas throughout the country.

And now they are being badly treated by the Government.

Their relationship with the local authorities has changed-----

They are being taken over.

-----because those authorities and the public representatives who serve on them now have access to all of the detail relating to how the money involved is used for the benefit of communities. This is not to say that the functions and responsibilities of the Leader groups and those who work on them have changed. The latter have a very important part to play in respect of the moneys allocated.

The Deputy referred to an assault on rural Ireland. He must remember that both rural and urban areas are still recovering from the devastation that was wreaked upon them a number of years ago.

So the Government slashed their funding.

The Government is acutely aware of what has been the impact on rural Ireland and, as a result, IDA Ireland has changed its strategy in terms of the development of technology parks, the upgrading of existing facilities and the purchase and construction of new ones in areas outside the main urban centres. It is welcome to see the significant investment being made by Apple in Athenry and the development of facilities in towns and other locations outside those centres. These developments are heartening, particularly as they are giving rise to the creation of further jobs throughout the regions.

The Government has published its programme for the provision of broadband services throughout the country, particularly in areas where capacity is seriously lacking and where this should not be the case. Enterprise Ireland has been allocated additional funding in order that it might facilitate small and medium enterprises throughout the country to assist in developing a regional strategy and promoting employment creation. That is why the Government established the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland and the Ireland strategic investment fund. These are two major developments. The Ireland strategic investment fund contains €7 billion and the first public flotation on the Irish Stock Exchange relating to it - involving the Malin initial public offering, IPO - took place this morning. This development involves ten small companies which deal with various areas throughout the regions. As Deputy Martin is aware, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland has an investment capacity of €800 million in the context of small and medium enterprises and can provide lower-interest loans over longer terms. All of these are part of the programme for the development of provincial and rural Ireland.

As already stated, the fund relating to the rural development programme stands at €250 million. That amount is not as large as previously. The Leader groups, in terms of their responsibilities, are still very important.

They are making people redundant.

The groups will play a fundamental role in the development of quality enterprises and systems throughout the country. I look forward to engaging with them.

The Taoiseach has lost all credibility.

I will tell the Taoiseach what Leader companies in a particular area are saying. I am not going to mention the area in question because the companies that operate there might be punished by the Government. People are afraid of the Government's tendencies in this regard and of how it gets to them in the end.

I would appreciate it if the Deputy would ask a supplementary question.

The allocation of funding to the Leader companies in the area to which I refer is the lowest I can remember since the introduction of the scheme in 1996.

It is a smash and grab exercise.

The Taoiseach did not address the core issue I put to him. Cuts in allocations are happening throughout the country.

Smash and grab.

It is an insult to people when the Taoiseach says that they did fabulous work, particularly when he then seeks to screw them. He is undermining their authority, autonomy and independence.

And good work.

The Taoiseach should please stop insulting people by uttering meaningless platitudes.

Will the Deputy ask a supplementary question?

The Taoiseach stated that - miraculously - the position has now changed. It did not just now change. The former Minister, Phil Hogan, saw this as a political issue and he wanted to gain control of the funds in order that he might divvy them up. There are two issues which arise.

There were not too many funds to divvy up when Fianna Fáil left office.

Hulk Hogan wrecked the place.

In the first instance, overall Pillar 2 funding was reduced and, in the second, the Government did not live up to its promise on 50-50 funding. In the context of matching funding in respect of Leader programmes, only 37% is being provided by the Government. The reduction in funding in all of the counties to which I refer has been quite severe.

Will the Taoiseach please address the realities that will be experienced in towns and villages throughout Ireland as a result of these quite dramatic funding cuts?

This means some services will have to close and some will not be sustainable in future. Will the Taoiseach restore the level of funding provided between 2007 and 2013 for the period from 2013 to 2020?

He is looking for money every day.

Will he at least supplement, from a national perspective, the draconian cuts he has presided over and return autonomy to the local rural development companies?

Deputy Martin has drifted back to where he left off.

The Taoiseach should read the ESRI report.

It is tax and spend.

They ran the country broke.

The Taoiseach is well able to look after himself.

It is more tax and spend from Deputy Martin. He is back to where he left off. He has not stood up from that seat once in the last two years to make a constructive suggest for the development of the country, other than to restore or provide money. Does he not understand that when he walked out of this Chamber four years ago, we had 12 weeks of reserves left to pay pensioners, gardaí, teachers and nurses?

That is not true.

It is not the first time he misled the House.

That is the mess he left behind.

It is true.

Will the Government restore funding for Leader groups?

Now he comes back here in 2015 to look for all those things to be restored.

That is a "No".

Answer the question I asked.

Deputy, please.

Allow me to answer the question.

He is wandering all over to avoid the question.

Deputy, please adhere to the Chair's directions.

Deputy Martin wandered all over the place asking the question.

We are over time.

Under the scheme as it operated until this year, administration costs amounted to 33%.

Remember that.

Some 33% of the funding for the Leader groups went into administration.

He clearly does not think they are fabulous anymore.

That is not pumping money into rural Ireland for schemes that the Deputy wants. He knows that.

They are cheaper than Irish Water.

The OECD recommended a more integrated approach to dealing with these kinds of funds. That is why the relationship between Leader and the local authorities, which are served by elected people from all over the country, will make an impact.

It is a smash and grab job.

There is a responsibility on the part of Leader groups to work with local authorities and other agencies to make the best impact with the €250 million allocated to them. I expect they will do a very good job.

For the information of the House, we were four and a half minutes over time on that question. This happens every day and I am getting fed up with it.