Vol. 268 No. 3
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, having regard to the eligibility of Ireland for maximum assistance from the Regional Fund of the European Community, the Government have decided on the percentage of the Fund to which Ireland should be entitled; and, if so, if he will specify such a percentage.
32.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of his recent visits to the Foreign Ministers of the European Community countries in connection with the Regional Fund.
33.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if a quota system under which Ireland would be allocated 3.9 per cent of the Regional Fund has been proposed by the Commission of the European Economic Community.
34.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government regard £1,500 million as the minimum acceptable fund to implement an effective regional policy in the European Community over the next three years.
With your permission, a Cheann Chomhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 31 to 34, inclusive, together.
As Deputies will be aware, the Commission of the European Communities has proposed that, in respect of the three years beginning 1974, the Regional Development Fund should be endowed with a total sum of 2,250 million units of account. In addition, the Commission intends to maintain a previous proposal to allocate for regional purposes a proportion of FEOGA funds amounting over the next three years to 150 million units of account. This makes a grand total of 2,400 million units of account or about £1,000 million in Irish currency. The adequacy of this amount, or indeed of the amount of £1,500 million suggested by the Deputy, cannot be considered separately from the question of how it is to be distributed, in regard to which the Commission has not yet provided the necessary information.
No proposals have been put forward by the Commission for a quota system. However, it has been suggested that the ratio of population in the regions defined as eligible for aid from the Regional Development Fund should be one criterion in the allocation of the Fund. We could not under any circumstance accept a quota based simply on such a population criterion which would result in Ireland being allocated a maximum of 3.9 per cent or 4 per cent of the Regional Fund—a proportion which would bear no relationship to the needs of Ireland's regional problems in relation to those of other parts of the Community.
My object will be to ensure that the resources made available to us will be adequate in relation to the intensity of our problems, our relative ability to solve them ourselves and the prospect of being able to move towards economic and monetary union. In relation to the first of these points —the need to tailor Community aid to the relative intensity of regional problems—Commissioner Thomson's suggestion at the last Council of Ministers meeting that a higher level of aid might be made available here, to Northern Ireland, Southern Italy and Greenland could offer the basis of a solution on this point. In this connection I particularly welcome the inclusion of Northern Ireland in this suggested definition of areas of special need; this is a matter which I have been pressing for some time past.
My recent visits to the capitals of the Community were undertaken for the purpose of discussing the Commission's proposals and explaining the Irish position in relation to them. It would not be in accordance with normal practice to give details of these discussions but, in the light of these discussions and my remarks in the Council of Ministers in Luxembourg on Monday last, a copy of which I have arranged to be placed in the Dáil library, Ireland's position is now well understood.
The Minister will appreciate that these questions were put down well in advance of his recent statement to the Council of Ministers and also that each of the questions raises very important matters. Since the Minister has taken the questions together I am placed in some difficulty but I hope that you, Sir, will allow me some latitude both in regard to the nature and to the extent of the question I propose to put to the Minister now.
The Minister has said that there is no firm proposal on the quota system. However, I am sure the Minister will accept that there is a suggestion to relate the benefits to population. That implies a quota. Since amendments have been tabled at the European Parliament by the European Progressive Democratic Group—I am sure the Minister is glad of any assistance he can get at any level—can he say whether he might arrange to instruct the members of the Government parties at the European Parliament to support these amendments which are to the effect that if there is to be a quota system, a proportion of the fund will be maintained for what are called regions of particularly intractable problems? I ask that particularly in the context of the fact that the Labour Party——
The Deputy is embarking on a long statement. While I am anxious to facilitate the Deputy in eliciting information I cannot allow such long statements.
Can the Minister say whether he will have particular regard to the urgency of this matter in view of the fact that the Labour Party members at the European Parliament voted recently with their Socialist colleagues against a discussion of the amendment to the regional policy proposal before the Parliament?
First, let me say that I welcome the efforts of various Deputies of the different groups in the European Parliament, including the Deputies of the Opposition party, to assist the national interest in this regard but it is not my function as a Minister nor is it the function of the Government to instruct the members of the Parliament, regardless of which party they may be associated with, on how to act. We are always willing to assist with information and advice and we are grateful for the support for our ideas. The amendment tabled regarding a second-tier fund for the areas that need additional assistance is one that is in line with Government policy but I would not presume to direct any Deputies of this House as to how they should act in the European Parliament.
Would the Minister at least consult with these Deputies so as to ensure that the views they would express at that international forum would be in accord with the views expressed by the Minister both here and abroad?
I am not aware of any problem in that respect. All Deputies of all parties in the European Parliament have been most helpful and I am grateful for their support.
I have drawn the Minister's attention to a particular incident and I hope that all Deputies at the Parliament can work together but what has been happening up to now gives ground for some concern. May I ask another question of the Minister?
This will have to be the Deputy's final supplementary.
I have only asked one so far in relation to all the questions. I appreciate that the Minister cannot give me specific replies as to the outcome of his negotiations and discussions with the various Ministers but my concern relates to whether the Minister got any indication after the publication of the May guidelines that the Commission were being suborned by the Ministers, possibly those with whom he was attending at that time. There is quite a difference between the proposals that emanated finally from the Commission and the guidelines which were consistent with the statement from the Paris summit and the Rome Treaty.
Had the Minister any cause for concern as a result of his meeting and, if so, would he not have thought it better to have expressed that concern publicly in this country so that those of us who would have been in a position to help could have so helped? I ask this in view of the fact that we had no statement from the Minister until rather late in the day.
In a case like this there is always genuine cause for concern because, naturally, each member of the Council will be looking at the problem partially from his own point of view and partially from a European point of view. That means that countries paying in are wondering how they might minimise their payments while countries hoping to benefit are seeking to maximise the benefits. I have no doubt but that the discussions would prove difficult in the end and that we would have to fight very hard for what we are entitled to and for a policy which would be properly described as a European regional policy. However, the Deputy is asking whether I had any reason to believe that the draft regulations published in July would, to the extent that they have done so, fail to correspond with the proposals in the May document. I had no reason to believe that until the draft regulations were published.
Question No. 35.
One final question: in view of the reply of the Minister for the Gaeltacht, for instance, with regard to the delay in respect of the Gaeltacht, has the Minister impressed on his colleagues in the Government the urgency of preparing specific proposals for specific projects so that if and when the fund is implemented we will be in a position to avail of it immediately and to the maximum possible extent, because it appears from what the Minister for the Gaeltacht said today and also from what was said by the Minister for Finance——
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is not responsible for the matter to which the Deputy is referring.
This matter is one that has been engaging the attention of the Government and of the various Departments. An active study is being carried out at present of all problems in relation to this question. I have proposed that there should be a trial run in respect of a month of this year, towards the end of the year, so that we might ascertain what snags there may be. I do not think the problem will be so much lack of projects as the fact that in some instances the way in which we identify and classify projects might not correspond to the kind of classification needed to pick out those entitled to aid from those not so entitled. Therefore, this matter which the Deputy very properly raises is one that is actively engaging our attention.
Apart from the Minister's objections to the criteria put forward so far for the distribution of the fund, and these are very commendable, has the Minister put forward any specific proposals for the distribution of the fund?
In the discussions I have had with member Governments I have not confined myself totally to criticising the Commission's proposals but I have suggested ways in which a more genuine regional fund could emerge if certain amendments were made to the proposals as they exist at present.
I take it that these have not been published?
No, not at this point and neither do I think that it would be in the national interest to do so while the discussions and negotiations are proceeding.
