€3.7m for Rural Economic Development Zone (REDZ) projects - Ministers Kelly & Phelan

Issued : Tuesday 29 September, 2015

Funding targets community participation, boosting employment, rural isolation

Today, Mr. Alan Kelly T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, and Ms. Ann Phelan, TD Minister of State for Rural Affairs are delighted to announce €3,758,479 in funding allocations for the REDZ pilot scheme.

A Rural Economic Development Zone is described as a functional rather than administrative geographic area that reflect the spatial patterns of local economic activities and development processes, i.e. they are the sub-county zones within which most people live and work. Research surrounding this element of the CEDRA report identified potential REDZ in all areas of Ireland and recommended the implementation of a pilot initiative that supports the formulation of a localised strategic approach to the development of REDZ.

Minister Kelly said that ‘This funding is about community participation, boosting employment, tackling rural isolation and helping communities to identify the issues and also the solutions. The concept of a REDZ which involves supporting communities to avail of opportunities to help themselves and their local areas is the essence of what a community led approach to rural development is all about. Rural communities know best what they require and I hope that this pilot will provide much needed resources to some of the REDZ community’s throughout Ireland to further the economic development of their areas and I hope that the learning from this pilot will inform thinking as the economy continues to recover.’

Building on this Minister Phelan said that “I am absolutely delighted to announce the funding allocations for the REDZ pilot scheme today. The quality of the applications and level of interest in the pilot scheme was such that I have made additional funding available so that each qualifying project will be offered at least 50% of the funding they applied for. I am happy to announce that 26 pilot projects, rather than the original 18, on a regional basis and at different levels of scale will receive 100% of the funding applied for and the 25 remaining projects that qualified will be offered 50% of the funding applied for. I have no doubt, that these projects will make a real difference in the lives of many rural communities.

The Minister went on to say that “I am confident that these resources coupled with the €30million for the rural towns and villages renewal scheme announced yesterday are just the beginning of a process of rural renewal regeneration and I look forward to hearing about and visiting many of the projects as they come to fruition.”

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