The recent cut of more than 20% in the RDP (LEADER) funding allocation to South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd. has resulted in the loss of 4 jobs in the Partnership and substantial reductions in the working hours of a further three staff. Staff were informed of the cuts following the Board meeting on Tuesday which considered the implications of the funding cut.
The crisis meeting also saw the Board consider a system of ranking projects for funding given the project funding available to SKDP as a result of the budget cut falls far short of what is required to cover the significant number of projects seeking funding. Applicants are currently being advised of this ranking system in writing and the Board will meet again in the coming weeks to finalise the funding allocation for projects. It is hoped that funding decisions made on all project applications will be notified to the applicants by the end of June.
SKDP CEO Noel Spillane said that the Board deeply regretted having to cut staff numbers in this manner but they were simply left with no choice given the massive cuts in funding announced by the Minister. “We need to maintain a certain level of staffing to enable us to complete the current LEADER programme but we simply could not retain all of our staff” he said. “This is particularly difficult given the amount of work these people have put in over the last number of years with individuals and community groups applying for funding and with one stroke of a pen, the Minister simply pulls the rug out from under us and the people of South Kerry” Noel added.
This is obliviously a major blow also to those individuals and community groups who have made project funding applications and who were depending on this to enable projects go ahead, Noel said. He pointed out that this funding cut will have substantially wider implications for the South Kerry region in general given that it will stifle potential jobs growth and hinder the provision of vital community facilities. It is particularly harsh on the Gaeltacht area of Iveragh given that they were effectively shut out of the programme for more than a year and now the Minister does not see fit to allocate sufficient funding for new projects coming in from this area Noel added.
SKDP Chairperson Patsy Cronin said that we are simply not going to take these cuts lying down and the Board is going to make representations to the Department of the Environment to have the Partnerships original funding allocation restored. “This RDP (LEADER) programme has been mismanaged from the outset by the Department and it is regions such as South Kerry that are now paying the price for this” Patsy added. “The Government should be doing everything possible to facilitate those who are trying to start up new enterprises and expand current enterprises creating badly needed jobs in rural Ireland and not engage in a fund cutting exercise such as this” he concluded.
