asked the Minister for Communications if his attention has been drawn to the telecottage experiments in Scandinavia; his views on whether it has application in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Scandinavian Experiments.
130.
I have seen an extract from the October 1987 Council of Europe publication FORUM describing Scandinavian "telecottage" data processing services. The EEC STAR Programme, which was instituted to aid the development of certain less favoured regions of the Community by improving access to advanced telecommunications services, envisages aid for the establishment and development of telecommunications service centres, except in those of main urban areas where such centres arise spontaneously, with a view to (i) providing user services, in particular advanced data transmission, videotex and videocommunications services, even in sparsely populated areas; and (ii) providing common services for two or more small and medium sized enterprises. It is open to anyone interested in developing such projects to apply for aid under that programme.
While it is not a matter for me to say whether the "telecottage" experiment has application in Ireland, I would point out that there are no funds available to me from whence I might finance, either wholly or partially, such experiments.