Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Michelle O’Neill today announced that the Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020 has been submitted to the European Commission for approval.
The Minister said: “This is an important milestone in the lifetime of our next Rural Development Programme. It is the culmination of over three years of work by my officials and our stakeholders. I want to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have contributed to get us to this point, whether by responding to the public consultation last year or through their participation in our Stakeholder Consultation Group.
“The European Commission will now consider DARD’s proposals for the next Rural Development Programme, with approval anticipated in the spring. The Programme will be funded with a European contribution of approximately £186.5million and I am planning to provide match funding from DARD’s own budget. DARD will bid for further funding of up to £250million for a Farm Business Improvement Scheme, as agreed by the Executive, to give a Programme budget of up to £623million.
“While today is a significant one in terms of Programme development, it does not mark the end of this process. Work will continue to get the Programme’s delivery structures in place and complete the necessary business cases so that schemes and measures can be launched as soon as possible once European Commission approval is received. I want to see these funds being rolled out and making a difference to people’s lives as soon as possible.”
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