Gerry Reynolds
Question:95 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Energy if he will outline the progress made to date in the implementation of the recommendations of the Arigna Task Force.
Vol. 415 No. 1
95 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Energy if he will outline the progress made to date in the implementation of the recommendations of the Arigna Task Force.
I have been informed that up to December 1991 loans and grants totalling £549,450 have been approved by the Arigna Fund Enterprise Company from the £1 million fund set up following the publication of the Arigna Task Force report. This involves 40 projects and the creation of approximately 114 jobs in the area. To date £302,700 has been paid over in respect of those projects.
In addition to the enterprise fund, a full-time co-ordinator/facilitator was appointed for 1991 to progress the various ideas in the task force report. This person's contract has now been renewed for a further year. The provision of four managed community enterprise workshops for the Arigna area is at an advanced stage and a wide range of retraining programmes for ex-miners was conducted and these will continue.