asked the Minister for Finance the amount available to be drawn by Ireland from the European Regional Fund in 1978 and the amount actually paid to Ireland.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - European Regional Fund.
1.
The amount of money which may be drawn from the European Regional Development Fund is governed by national expenditure actually incurred on projects approved for aid from the fund. Each quarter, my Department submit to the Commission a report of expenditure to date on these projects together with a claim for payment of the full amount of aid to which this expenditure gives entitlement. The amount received in 1978 on the basis of such claims was £11,103,552. A further £3,491,977 was received in January 1979 in respect of claims submitted in December 1978.
As the Deputy is aware, member states are entitled to a fixed quota from the regional fund each year. Ireland's quota for 1978 was some £24 million, and applications totalling £27 million were submitted in order to ensure that this quota would be fully taken up.
The apparent discrepancy between the figures for commitments and receipts is due to the fact that a commitment represents the total amount of aid to be paid during the life of a project. Since payment can only be obtained from the fund by way of refund of national expenditure, and since this will generally take several years to complete, there is therefore no reason why the figures for commitments and receipts in any year should coincide.
When does the Minister expect the full £27 million to be drawn, if ever?
I certainly expect it to be drawn, but I cannot say when because it depends on the duration of the projects in respect of which approval has been given and the aid has been paid. As I indicated, a number of projects take a few years to complete therefore there will not be a completion of the payment until the projects are completed. The £27 million is what is known in EEC terms as a commitment appropriation as distinct from a payment appropriation concept with which we are more familiar.
Have the projects in respect of the £27 million been approved in principle and also was any money received during 1978 in respect of previous years?
The £27 million was the total amount of the projects submitted but our quota entitlement was £24 million so that there will be some which would not have been approved which would exceed the quota. In relation to whether money was received in 1978 in respect of previous years, I do not have information on that with me but the Deputy may take it as quite definite that such money was received.