I welcome the opportunity today to raise the matter of the future funding for Kilkenny LEADER Partnership and, indeed, all local development companies and networks across the country. I acknowledge the incredible work of Kilkenny LEADER through the LEADER programme and also through social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, funding. Every day, it supports rural businesses, helps people to enter employment, provides education and training opportunities, and does a huge amount of work strengthening social and cultural integration within our communities. It is often the first place people turn to when they need practical support. LEADER has had some really exceptional success on the ground in crucial community development.

With that in mind, there is a lot of uncertainty about future funding. The EU's decision to remove the ring-fencing obligation has raised questions and worries about what the future of LEADER will look like. The Local Development Companies Network, LDCN, is worried that the integration of LEADER funding into broader CAP funding will see a decrease in the dedicated ring-fenced budget, which may lead to greatly reduced programming in rural and traditionally isolated communities.

While discussions continue at EU level on the next multi-annual financial framework, on which we will obviously be highly engaged in our capacity during the EU Presidency, and on the future of the LEADER programme beyond 2028, we need to be very clear about what this is going to look like for programming at home. The ultimate decision on how Ireland chooses to fund rural and community development is made by the Irish Government, regardless of the decision around ring-fencing that happens in Brussels.

The current allocation is €180 million for five years and it does not meet existing needs. The LDCN is requesting a return to pre-austerity funding of around €450 million. Could the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, comment on what funding commitment will be made towards this in the next budget and on SICAP funding? SICAP has an exceptional track record in tackling disadvantage, supporting employment, reducing exclusion and fostering integration in communities in Kilkenny and beyond.

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.

I thank the Senators for raising this important matter. I am not going to reveal the budgetary process because we have not yet got to that point. The point made by Senator Cosgrove in the context of spending on military alliances and defence has happened across Europe. It is something to which we cannot close our eyes, in particular on the eastern flank. As the Taoiseach said in the Dáil yesterday, we are a peripheral nation that is a bit removed from what is happening with Russia.

Having said that, I will also say that last year in our Department, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I secured a record €11 million in the budget for SICAP and the LEADER programme, which are two of the key interventions delivered as part of the ongoing Government investment in our communities. I share the regard of the Senators for the extraordinary, Trojan work being done. It is about strengthening, empowering and enabling communities and, in particular, new, diverse and inclusive communities across our country. The Minister and I have worked hand in glove on this matter. We have seen across the country, as the Senators know well, the real and tangible benefits that are being delivered.

Elected representatives in this House know the work being done. We see it in our own areas but we also see it across the country. The LEADER programme has been at the heart of the development of rural Ireland for the past 35 years. It is the key element of our Department’s rural development investment programme. Both the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I are committed in the budgetary process to keeping that momentum going. Under the current four-year LEADER programme, €180 million is available to rural communities across our country. To date, local action groups have approved over 1,300 projects, valued at over €64 million. I look forward, with the Minister, to seeing those projects come to fruition across the country in the coming months and years. As the Senators rightly said, LEADER is funded under the CAP and, therefore, the development of the EU regulations relating to the post-2027 CAP and the new national and regional partnership plan is a matter of significant importance to our Department and to the Minister and me. Within the draft regulations, the continuation of the LEADER programme as a CAP intervention is welcomed.

I appreciate and acknowledge contributions made by the Senators, and those many members of my own party and others have made, to the effect that the changes are causing uncertainty. I get it, as I travel the country the whole time. As part of the ongoing negotiation process - I have travelled to Poznań in Poland and the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has been at the Council of Ministers meeting - our Department has consistently emphasised at every opportunity the importance of a ring-fenced allocation for the LEADER programme to ensure that the post-2027 programme can continue its vital role in supporting rural communities across our country.

As the Senators will understand, there are many details that remain to be finalised as part of the negotiation process to put the regulations in place and discussions at a detailed level are continuing. These negotiations are expected to continue through Ireland's term of office as the President of the Council of the European Union. I assure both Senators and all Members of the House that our Department, the Minister and I will continue to engage directly with our European colleagues and the Commission to ensure that the LEADER programme continues to be well funded into the future.

The Senators also mentioned SICAP, which is our primary national social inclusion programme. It is doing huge work. Without it, look at the levels of poverty we would have and the exclusion, rather than inclusion, we would have. We would have inequality rather than equality. We are supporting disadvantaged people and communities. I pay tribute to local development companies for their work. SICAP funding is part of the budgetary Estimates process. Last year, we secured an extra €1.5 million in the budget, which brought the increase in funding to SICAP since 2022 to €11.3 million. That means we have in excess of €50 million to be spent. I will come back in a moment to the other points in my reply.

I thank the Minister of State. We know the work that is done on the ground. However, there is a danger. That is why I think we should use our EU Presidency. I am talking in particular about the north west. It has been downgraded to a lagging region within the EU. It is in areas like that we know there are challenges in respect of employment opportunities, building sustainable communities and promoting green ethical farming. All of those matters come under the CAP budget. It must be ensured that we have this commitment.

I know that the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Calleary, are committed to LEADER companies and SICAP. It is about trying to use our voice. We joined the EU in 1973. It was not a military operation that we joined. We joined because it would be better for all the people living on the island and that has to be taken into account when we look at areas such as the north west that have been downgraded in their EU status to a lagging region. That is the case we need to be arguing during our EU Presidency.

There is obviously the issue around ring-fencing at the EU level but regardless of how the negotiations manifest in Brussels, we can make our own national commitment to ring-fencing for the local development companies network, LCDN. The LCDN is seeking an additional €10 million to sustain SICAP funding. That was its recent request. The Minister of State has outlined the importance of the work it is doing.

I thank both Members for raising the matter. All of us in the House share an ambition regarding SICAP and LEADER. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I are committed to ensuring that we have a well-funded CAP that does not just support farm resilience and environmental ambition but also strongly invests in rural Ireland. I am acutely aware of the challenges that remain and are faced across many parts of our country. Senator Cosgrove mentioned the north west. In the programme for Government, we have a firm commitment around the whole allocation of SICAP funding. We are now living in a different world. That is the sad part. It is the battle that we must fight within Europe to ensure that money is not spent disproportionately. We must spend it on people in a different way that has real and tangible benefits.

We will work at European level to ensure that investment is targeted at local priorities and in the work we are doing. I have made the following point to many people in different forums. Without what we are talking about his morning, SICAP, LEADER, CLÁR or whatever else, we, as a world, are in big trouble. It is our job to continue to fight for those programmes and we will do so. I thank the Senators for raising the matter. I cannot give them certainty regarding the budgetary process for the allocations of money because that has not started yet. I assure them that both the Minister and I will do the very best we can to ensure the funding allocations continue to be where they are today.