Donegal County Council has only spent 42% of their budget from the Department of Community and Rural Affairs on rural improvement schemes.
Local authorities throughout the country have faced criticism from Minister Michael Ring due to the large sums of cash not spent on rural schemes.
Donegal County Council has today told Donegal Daily that they are making progress on the various allocations, with the budget to be spent by March 2018.
These schemes are; The Rural Recreation Scheme, The Clár programme, Town and Village Renewal Scheme, and Rural Economic Development Zone (RedZ).
In 2016, Ring’s department pumped €28.5 million into four different schemes; 40% of which has gone unspent by local authorities throughout the country.
According to the Irish Independent, an internal Government report outlines that much of this funding is simply sitting in the bank accounts of local authorities.
Offaly is at the bottom of the list, having only spent 18% of its allocated funding. Donegal is also named one of the worst, tied with Kilkenny who has also only spend 42% of their budget. In contrast, counties such as Louth and Carlow have doled out 84% of their funding.
In a statement to Donegal Daily, a spokesperson for the Department said that “there is some concern regarding the level of [money] spent by Local Authorities in a number of counties.”
“Minister Ring is looking at ways to ensure that monies allocated by his Department are spent without undue delay so that the benefit of these investments can be reaped by rural communities,” they said.
The Minister may now meet with the chief executives to find out why this money remains unspent.
In the more extreme circumstances, he is threatening to take the money off of local authorities and reinvest it in other agencies such as Údarás na Gaeltachta.
Speaking to Donegal Daily, a spokesperson for Donegal County Council says that there is a timeline for the completion of all four schemes.
“Donegal County Council has made significant progress on the delivery of these schemes in Donegal.
“Donegal County Council will have completed up to 90% of the projects under CLAR by 31st December 2017 with the remainder being complete by end of January 2018.
“It is expected that all of the Town & Village Renewal monies will be spent by March 2018.
“All works funded under the REDZ programme have been tendered, contractors appointed and all works are due to be complete by the end of March 2018.
“All works funded under the Rural Recreation Scheme will be complete by the end of December 2017.
“The implementation of these initiatives involves community consultations, procurement and land agreements and in some instances the delivery of these projects have been impacted by inclement weather.”
Details of the schemes:
The Rural Recreation Scheme, a fund specifically for the construction, maintenance, enhancement, or promotion of outdoor recreational infrastructure.
The Clár programme, which provides funding for small-scale capital projects in rural areas that have experienced significant levels of depopulation.
Town and Village Renewal Scheme, a fund specifically targeted at rural towns and villages with populations of less than 10,000.
Rural Economic Development Zone (RedZ), is a scheme that boosts rural businesses.
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