Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 28 Apr 1992

Vol. 418 No. 7

Written Answers. - Structural Fund Programme.

Edward Nealon

Question:

104 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Finance the number of extra jobs which have been, or will be provided, in this country under the EC Structural Fund programme (1989-1993); if he will outline the average duration of these jobs and the general nature of the jobs under the headings of (1) job, (2) type and (3) location.

Enda Kenny

Question:

105 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Finance if he will give details of the 30,000 extra jobs which are expected to be provided in Ireland under the Structural Fund Programme 1989-93; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Finance (Mr. B. Ahern)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 104 and 105 together.

The recently published ESRI study on the "Role of the Structural Funds" concludes that the employment effects of the increased funding available under the CSF build up over time. Initially there is an increase in 1989 and 1990 of around 8,000. This rises to 19,000 by the year 1993. The improvement in the productive potential of the economy after that date adds another 12,000 by the year 2000 taking the gain in total employment to 31,000, a rise of around 2.6 per cent. It should be noted that these gains relate to the increase in EC assistance negotiated in 1989 as compared to the level of aid available prior to then. The total impact of the structural funds is therefore greater. The ESRI study does not give a breakdown of the sectoral composition of the employment increase.

The total commitment to Ireland under the Structural Funds for the period 1989 to 1993 will exceed £3 billion. These Community funds are having a significant impact in strengthening the basic capacity of the Irish economy. It is estimated that the increase in Community support negotiated in 1989 has boosted annual growth by approximately ¼ per cent to ½ per cent. It has also resulted in higher employment than would otherwise have been possible and it was a key factor in the net increase of 39,000 non-agricultural jobs in the two years to April, 1991 — the latest date for which figures are available.

Table 1 below sets out details by sector of the changes in net employment in the period mid-April 1989 to mid-April 1991.

Table 1

Mining, Quarrying and Turf	0
Manufacturing Industry	5,000
Building and Construction	7,000
Electricity, Gas and Water	0
Commerce, Insurance and Finance	8,000
Transport, Communication and Storage	0
Public Administration and Defence	2,000
Other non-agricultural economic activity	17,000
Total non-agricultural employment	39,000

Details of employment by region for 1991 have not yet been published but Table 2 below gives details of changes in total non-agricultural employment by region in the 12 months to mid-April 1990.

Table 2

East	9,200
of which Dublin	5,800
Rest of East	3,300
South-West	7,300
South-East	2,100
North-East	1,300
Mid-West	300
Midlands	4,000
West	5,500
North-West and Donegal	2,700
Total non-agricultural employment	31,900

Notes:

The sources for both tables are the Labour Force Surveys for the relevant years.

Because of rounding, components do not sum to totals in Table 2.

John Bruton

Question:

106 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the basis for a statement by the Taoiseach (details supplied) that the north-west sub-region is receiving the highest amount of aid per head in Ireland from the EC Structural Fund; and if he will give equivalent figures for all other sub-regions.

Minister for Finance (Mr. B. Ahern)

In accordance with paragraph 2.7 of the Community Support Framework for Ireland 1989-1993 (CSF) seven Sub-regional Review Committees have been set up to monitor the implementation of the CSF in the sub-regions. These committees are regularly provided with progress reports and financial statements on current and planned implementation of operational measures in, or significantly affecting, the sub-region concerned.

Detailed financial tables entitled "Breakdown of Structural Spending All Sub-regions" are circulated to the sub-regional review committees twice a year and copies are placed in the Dáil Library. These show progress in implementing the CSF, broken down by operational programme and action, in actual terms for past years and on a forecast basis for future years. The most recent edition of these tables was issued to the committees in February, 1992 and was placed in the Dáil Library on 26 February, 1992 for the information of the Members of the Oireachtas. The Taoiseach's statement referred to by the Deputy is based on the tables on pages 6 and 7 of this document which shows the percentage share and per capita expenditure by sub-region cumulatively for the period 1989-1993.

A copy of these tables follows:

Percentage Share andPer Capita Expenditure by Sub-Region 1989-1993

	Total Cost	Total Public Structural Expend.	Co-Financed Public Expenditure	Non-Co- Financed National Expend.	Private Expend.
Total Co- Financed	EC Participation	National
Total	ERDF	ESF	EAGGF	Other	Total	Central Govt.	Local Auths.	Other
Sub-Region	1=2+14	2=3+13	3=4+9	4=5+6+7+8	5	6	7	8	9=10+11+12	10	11	12	13	14
Sub-Region 1
Expenditure £ms	2,420	1,917	1,258	740	380	350	4	6	518	447	1	70	659	503
% Share	25.65%	26.08%	24.09%	23.71%	27.58%	30.36%	0.76%	56.04%	24.64%	24.37%	14.32%	26.69%	30.99%	24.14%
Population	1,024,429	1,024,429	1,024,429	1,024,429	1,024,429	1,024,429	1,024,429	1,024,429	1,024,429	1,024,429	1,024,429		1,024,429	1,024,429
Per Capita £s	2,362	1,871	1,228	723	371	342	4	6	505	436	1	68	643	491
Sub-Region 2
Expenditure £ms	983	746	544	320	137	131	52	0	225	186	1	37	201	238
% Share	10.42%	10.14%	10.42%	10.24%	9.93%	11.34%	8.93%	2.81%	10.69%	10.17%	15.17%	14.26%	9.46%	11.40%
Population	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003	383,003
Per Capita £s	2,567	1,947	1,422	835	358	341	135	1	586	487	2	98	525	620
Sub-Region 3
Expenditure £ms	1,248	989	704	422	185	160	76	0	282	240	1	42	285	259
% Share	13.24%	13.46%	13.48%	13.51%	13.43%	13.92%	13.15%	0.00%	13.44%	13.08%	14.36%	15.94%	13.42%	12.44%
Population	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907	469,907
Per Capita £s	2,657	2,106	1,499	898	394	341	163	0	601	510	2	89	607	551
Sub-Region 4
Expenditure £ms	1,122	842	600	356	135	131	90	0	244	214	1	30	243	279
% Share	11.89%	11.46%	11.49%	11.39%	9.79%	11.37%	15.43%	0.07%	11.63%	11.66%	10.89%	11.43%	11.41%	13.42%
Population	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313	392,313
Per Capita £s	2,860	2,147	1,529	907	344	334	228	0	623	545	1	76	618	712
Sub-Region 5
Expenditure £ms	1,157	902	669	400	125	120	155	0	269	239	1	30	233	255
% Share	12.27%	12.28%	12.81%	12.81%	9.07%	10.44%	26.62%	0.00%	12.81%	13.03%	13.53%	11.30%	10.97%	12.23%
Population	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876	342,876
Per Capita £s	3,375	2,632	1,951	1,167	365	351	451	0	785	696	2	87	680	743
Sub-Region 6
Expenditure £ms	1,078	817	628	383	134	106	143	0	245	219	1	25	188	261
% Share	11.43%	11.11%	12.03%	12.26%	9.73%	9.18%	24.63%	0.00%	11.69%	11.97%	17.26%	9.61%	8.85%	12.55%
Population	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045	312,045
Per Capita £s	3,455	2,617	2,014	1,227	430	339	458	0	787	703	3	81	603	838
Sub-Region 7
Expenditure £ms	1,424	1,136	819	502	282	154	61	4	317	288	1	28	317	288
% Share	15.10%	15.46%	15.68%	16.06%	20.46%	13.39%	10.47%	41.09%	15.10%	15.73%	14.46%	10.77%	14.91%	13.83%
Population	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828	598,828
Per Capita £s	2,378	1,897	1,367	838	471	258	102	7	530	481	1	47	529	481
All Regions
Total Expenditure £ms	9,432	7,349	5,223	3,122	1,378	1,153	581	11	2,100	1,833	5	262	2,126	2,083
Population	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401	3,523,401
Average Per Capita £s	2,677	2,086	1,482	886	391	327	165	3	596	520	1	74	603	591

Expenditure includes 1989 and 1990 actual and revised forecast 1991-1993.

Figures are in 1989 and 1990 prices for those years and 1991 prices for 1991-1993.

Sub-Region 1 — Dublin City and County Sub-Region 2 — South-East Sub-Region 3 — South Sub-Region 4 — Mid-West

Sub-Region 5 — West Sub-Region 6 — North-West Sub-Region 7 — Midlands-East