Mr McHugh said that two years ago, rural communities were promised access to £80 million of EU and government money.

    “Yet DARD is set to have £15 million slashed from its PEACE II budget - 27% of its total budget - because it cannot spend the money. This money is designed to assist communities that have been affected by the conflict through isolation or marginalisation resulting from the severing of social and economic links.

    “The five disadvantaged rural areas were to be targeted under the Natural Resource Rural Tourism initiative - a £15 million scheme - which would enable them to build on the potential for tourism and to develop their natural surroundings. But the five NRRT areas are going to lose up to £1million each because they are only open for application this past two weeks. They will not be able to spend the money in time, DARD red tape has held them back.

    “The situation with LEADER+ is just as bad, it is only now taking applications - a year after they were supposed to. Some of the measures that DARD are implementing have not yet been decided upon, seven months after the deadline for applications closed. That will cost our rural communities £2 million.

    “The loss of these Euro millions means that there is less support available to communities struggling to meet the challenges they are facing as a result of collapsing farming economies, the under development of community infrastructure and weak rural economies,” he added.