asked the Minister for Finance if he will press for a change in the criteria under which funds for Border counties from the non-quota section of the European Regional Fund are allocated at present through Government Departments or State agencies so that community organisations who are willing to match such grants £ for £ can qualify for direct aid.
Ceisteanna—Questions . Oral Answers . - Funds for Border Counties .
43.
Mr. Leonard
: The general EEC regulation governing the European Regional Development Fund requires that all requests for assistance from the fund be submitted by member states to the Commission. The Commission will not entertain any direct application from individual bodies within any member state. Furthermore, under the specific EEC regulation governing the special five year programme for the Irish Border areas the contribution from the non-quota section of the fund was conditional on expenditure being incurred by the State on the measures in question. There would be no question at this stage of changing the conditions under which the aid was granted and I would see no point in pressing for such change.
Mr. Leonard
: The fund was a five-year one from 1980 to 1985. After two years, out of £20.5 million only £3.4 million has been allocated. Seemingly the Department were not interested in availing fully of this. Could the criteria not be changed to allow community organisations and groups who have projects which qualify under the scheme, such as those which were submitted by local authorities, to get pound for pound funding by the EEC?
: As I said, it is part of the condition of the operation of the Regional Development Fund and the Border areas programme in question that expenditure must be committed by the member states in question to the projects before there can be any EEC funding. That is a general rule of Community expenditure and there are very good reasons for it. As far as the amounts allocated and expended are concerned, in 1980 the total expenditure was £100,000; in 1981 it was under £2.3 million; in 1982 it was under £3.2 million and a total of about £4.4 million is available for this year. Within that total availability it would seem there is plenty of room for the projects envisaged under the programme.
Mr. Leonard
: Is the Minister saying that the amounts he mentioned are coming specifically from the Border counties fund from the non-quota section of the EEC? If that is so it contradicts information we received in reply to a question put down by Deputy Blaney and myself in relation to the amount of money allocated from the inception of the fund in 1980. It was £3.4 million for 1980, 1981 and 1982 and according to estimates for this year it would be substantially reduced.
: The figures I have given represent expenditure from the fund in the years in question. The allocation from the fund in those years was higher than the expenditure. The total amount which I have given is the expenditure from the fund, 50 per cent of which comes from the non-quota section of the European Regional Development Fund and the remainder comes from national funds.
Mr. Leonard
: The Minister's answer is confusing because he is giving us figures from the regional fund as distinct from the question I asked about the non quota section of the Border counties fund.
: I have no desire to cause confusion in the Deputy's mind. The special programme about which we are talking is funded through the European Regional Development Fund. It is part of an overall series of projects and this programme was brought in to ensure that we would benefit from a widening of the Regional Development Fund in a way which is suited to our needs. I reject the suggestion that I am in any way misleading or confusing the Deputy. I am merely giving him further details.
: The remaining questions will appear on next Tuesday's Order Paper.
: I wish to raise on the Adjournment, as a matter of great urgency, the question of an official dispute taking place at St. Mary's Psychiatric Hospital, Castlebar, which has been going on since 18 April.
: The Chair will communicate with the Deputy.
: I wish to raise on the Adjournment the question of no telephone communication with County Donegal today.
: The Chair will communicate with Deputy Gallagher.