asked the Minister for Finance the amount due to the State arising out of commitments made by the EEC which has not yet been paid; and the steps being taken to collect the outstanding balance.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - EEC Commitments.
25.
The amount of the commitments made for and the payments received by Ireland since accession to the European Communities are shown in a tabular statement, which I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to have circulated with the Official Report.
The statement shows the commitments and the receipts for each of the main funds where a distinction is made between commitments and payments, that is, the Regional Fund, the Social Fund and the FEOGA Guidance Section. Receipts under the FEOGA Guarantee Section, which account for the bulk of our receipts from the Community, are not shown because these are paid monthly in advance. The EMS related interest subsidies are not shown either, since we have taken up in full in 1979 and 1980 the annual amount of £45 million earmarked for Ireland.
The figures show that the conversion of commitments into receipts, after a slow start in the early years, has improved quite significantly in 1980. In the case of the Regional Fund the receipts show an increase from £25.5 million in 1979 to £45.5 million in 1980, in the case of the Social Fund from £28.8 million in 1979 to £46.2 million in 1980 and in the case of the FEOGA Guidance Section from £26.4 million in 1979 to £35 million in 1980.
The improvement in receipts is attributable both to the accelerated payments procedures adopted for the Social and Regional Funds in 1978 and 1979, which are now becoming progressively more effective, and to a revision in the method of application to the Regional Fund agreed by the Commission in February last at the Government's instigation. A revision of the procedure for payments under the FEOGA Guidance Section has also been in effect since March last. This allows for 100 per cent payment of the Guidance Section grant during the year following the incurring of national expenditure on the measures in question rather than 75 per cent under the previous provisions, and should lead to a further speeding up of payments in the future.
It must be appreciated of course that it is inherent in the system whereby commitments are made at the commencement of multi-annual projects and payments are phased over the life of these projects that a certain amount of commitments will be outstanding at any particular time.
The Government are concerned to ensure that there are no avoidable delays in converting the outstanding commitments into payments, either at national level in submitting payment claims or in the processing of those claims in the Commission. I am confident that with the accelerated payment procedures already referred to becoming increasingly more effective, the considerable improvement in regard to payments during 1980 will be maintained and strengthened further in 1981.
Following is the statement referred to:
Ireland's commitments and receipts from certain Community funds
(All figures are in IR£ million)
|
Fund |
Year |
Commitments |
Receipts |
Difference between commitments and receipts totals |
|
REGIONAL FUND |
1975 |
8.3 |
1.8 |
|
|
(operational from 1975) |
1976 |
14.3 |
8.5 |
|
|
1977 |
12.4 |
8.5 |
||
|
1978 |
23.6 |
11.1 |
||
|
1979 |
41.0 |
25.5 |
||
|
1980 |
48.4 |
45.5 |
||
|
(to date) |
||||
|
TOTAL |
148.0 |
100.9 |
47.1 |
|
|
SOCIAL FUND |
1973 |
4.1 |
— |
|
|
1974 |
7.0 |
3.6 |
||
|
1975 |
9.4 |
4.0 |
||
|
1976 |
13.0 |
4.6 |
||
|
1977 |
19.4 |
8.2 |
||
|
1978 |
25.6 |
19.3 |
||
|
1979 |
38.4 |
28.8 |
||
|
1980 |
53.5 |
46.2 |
||
|
(to date) |
||||
|
TOTAL |
170.4 |
114.7 |
55.7 |
|
|
FEOGÁ GUIDANCE |
1973 |
2.9 |
— |
|
|
SECTION |
1974 |
5.1 |
— |
|
|
1975 |
6.9 |
0.6 |
||
|
1976 |
14.5 |
2.6 |
||
|
1977 |
16.6 |
7.3 |
||
|
1978 |
27.5 |
9.7 |
||
|
1979 |
28.4 |
26.4 |
||
|
1980 |
5.4(1) |
19.3(2) |
||
|
(to date) |
||||
|
TOTAL |
107.3 |
65.9 |
41.4 |
(1)A further amount of about £37 million is expected to be approved in respect of 1980.
(2)Further receipts of about £16 million are expected in 1980.
I have not seen the Minister's figures but is it correct that the total sum outstanding to Ireland amounts to £124 million broken down as follows: £43 million from the Social Fund, £40 million from the Regional Fund and £41 million from the FEOGA Guidance Section?
The amount could be of that order, but I want the Deputy and the House to be reassured from what I have just said that this could be a reflection of two factors. The first is the level of our advances from each of these funds, which obviously would determine the outstanding funds at any one time. What is important is the level of commitment which, as outlined in my reply, has improved very considerably because of action that we have taken and in respect of which we have got agreement from the EEC.
Would the Minister agree that, in view of the state of our national finances, a situation in which there is £124 million outstanding deserves more than passing comment? Therefore, despite any thing the Minister has had to say about progress today, will he assure the House that every effort will be made to have this money paid to us from Brussels?
I can tell the Deputy also that a further sum of £37 million is expected to be approved for us from, I think, the Social Fund in 1980 and that in addition further receipts of about £16 million are expected. This is a measure of the effect of the procedures which the Government introduced. I can assure the Deputy that the level of commitment to the Irish Government is about the second highest in the Community.