Written Answers. - EC Programme.
Enda Kenny
Question:
149
Mr. E. Kenny
asked the
Minister for Enterprise and Employment
the allocation received by Ireland under the Prisma programme for business services and infrastructure in backward regions in each of the years from 1988 to 1992; the uses to which this money has been put; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The EC structural fund initiative PRISMA (Preparing Regional Industry for the Single Market) was launched by the Commission in February 1991. Ireland's Operational Programme to take advantage of the funds available from PRISMA was adopted by a Commission Decision on 5 December 1991. This decision allocated a total of 9.382 mecu (or £7.22 million) to Ireland to support infrastructural development work in four highly specialised fields in the period 1992/1993.
The four objectives of PRISMA in Ireland are: the improvement of calibration and metrology infrastructure and services; the improvement of third party testing and certification services; to increase or enhance the information available to firms regarding business opportunities in EC public procurement markets; and to provide some additional support to previously protected sectors (eg. textiles, clothing and footwear) to enhance their future competitiveness.
Two particularly substantial and important projects are being supported under PRISMA — the modernisation of Ireland's Legal Metrology Service and the European Procurement Information Network (EPIN) being developed at ESBI Computing Ltd. Together these projects account for 76 per cent of the allocations made from the PRISMA fund by the Technical Selection Committee established under the OP. A further 15 projects are also being assisted.
The Legal Metrology Service has not evolved significantly since its establishment in the last century and is, at present, inadequate to meet the needs of a modern industrial economy. The OPIN project, in turn, is intended to base in Ireland a comprehensive and commercial computer network bringing together the information needs of suppliers, electricity utilities throughout Europe and the European Commission in the context of the newly liberalised EC public procurement markets.
I am hopeful that, by using PRISMA funds in this way, the maximum benefit for Ireland can be achieved from this small EC initiative. The metrology work and that on public procurement should help to improve the status of Irish exports and the potential access of Irish suppliers to the new commercial possibilities of the Single Market.
Enda Kenny
Question:
150
Mr. E. Kenny
asked the
Minister for Enterprise and Employment
the allocation received by Ireland under the Euroform programme dealing with new qualifications, new skills and new employment opportunities through transnational measures in each of the years from 1988 to 1992; the uses to which this money has been put; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Enda Kenny
Question:
151
Mr. E. Kenny
asked the
Minister for Enterprise and Employment
the allocation received by Ireland under the NOW programme for the promotion of employment for women through transnational measures in each of the years from 1988 to 1992; the uses to which this money has been put; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Enda Kenny
Question:
152
Mr. E. Kenny
asked the
Minister for Enterprise and Employment
the allocation received by Ireland under the Horizon programme aid for handicapped and certain disadvantaged groups in each of the years from 1988 to 1992; the uses to which this money has been put; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 150, 151 and 152 together.
European Commission Decisions on the Irish operational programmes to implement the Community Initiatives — Euroform, Horizon and NOW — were taken in the latter part of 1991 and the beginning of 1992. The financial allocations under the three Initiatives apply to the period 1992 to 1994 and are outlined in the tabular statement set out below.
Projects are supported to pilot innovative training on a transnational basis. A brief description of the focus of each of the Initiatives is set out below. The numbers of projects included under each of the three Initiatives and expenditure of Structural Fund moneys up to the end of 1992 are also indicated. Projects receive up to 65 per cent of their funding from the Structural Funds (mainly the European Social Fund) and they must themselves source the required matching funds.
The Human Resource Community Initiatives, Euroform, Horizon and NOW, are a particularly innovatory form of Structural Fund investment. They have an important role to play in the development of vocational training interventions in Ireland and the rest of the European Community. Horizon and NOW target groups which may not traditionally have had access to Structural Funds assistance — the disabled, disadvantaged people and women. Euroform focuses on innovation in training.
Under these Initiatives, a wider group of organisations are in receipt of European Social Fund moneys than has traditionally been the case. They include voluntary organisations, trade unions, professional institutes as well as statutory education and training agencies.
The European Commission has not yet decided on the future of Euroform, Horizon and NOW. From a national perspective, I consider that these programmes represent a significant and welcome development. They direct Community funds to the local level and allow for the piloting of new approaches to training across a very wide spectrum. Accordingly, I have strongly made the case to the European Commission for the continuation of these three Initatives and for the provision of necessary funding in the next Community Support Framework for Ireland.
Human Resources Community Initiatives Euroform, Horizon, NOW 1992-1994
European Social Fund Allocations
|
1992 Prices£m
|
|
Euroform
|
Horizon
|
NOW
|
|
Original Allocation
|
9.5
|
8.3
|
3.4
|
|
Additional Allocation
|
1.1
|
6.7
|
1.4
|
|
Total Allocation
|
10.6
|
15.0
|
4.8
|
|
Expenditure up to end 1992
|
2.5
|
3.4
|
0.8
|
|
Number of Approved Projects
|
64
|
94
|
29
|
Description of Programmes
Euroform Community Initiative
The Euroform Community Initiative concerns transnational projects in the area of new qualifications, new skills and new employment opportunities induced by the completion of the internal market and technological change. The European Social Fund allocation for Euroform up to the end of 1994 is £10.6 million.
Projects
At the end of December 1992, 64 projects were approved under Euroform. These projects will fully take up the Community funding available. Promoters must source matching funding for their projects amounting to 35 per cent of the total cost. The projects cover a wide variety of areas, ranging from qualifications in arts administration to distance learning for the long term unemployed to local tourism responses in the West of Ireland. Fifty different organisations in all parts of Ireland are involved in the delivery of projects.
The Euroform Initiative is being used in Ireland to pilot new kinds of training and new responses to the problem of unemployment. In many cases, voluntary organisations which have not had significant funding to date have been given the opportunity to test their approaches to training.
NOW Community Initiative
The NOW Community Initiative promotes equal opportunities for women in the field of employment and vocational training. All projects supported under this programme have a transnational aspect — they are linked with compatible counterparts in other EC member states. The total EC contribution to Ireland under NOW in the period 1992-194 is IR£4.8 million. The EC funds are primarily contributed by the European Social Fund with a small contribution from the European Regional Development Fund. Matching funding at the rate of 36 per cent may be sourced either publicly or privately.
Projects
To date 29 projects have been approved for funding under NOW. Another seven projects are at the technical assistance phase. These projects will fully take up the Community funding available. Both community groups, voluntary organisations and statutory training bodies are benefiting from the ESF assistance available under NOW. While NOW is providing voluntary organisations with the opportunity to directly implement ESF co-financed activity, it provides statutory training organisations with the resources to target their activities in the area of positive action programmes for women. Approximately 3,000 women will have benefited from the training and advisory services supported by NOW.
Horizon Community Initiative
The Horizon Community Initiative provides structural funds for innovative projects involving transnational partnerships and aimed at assisting the disabled and disadvantaged. The programme seeks to facilitate the social and economic integration of its participants into the labour market in particular and society in general. The total aid allocation for Ireland, following a significant reinforcement of the programme in 1992, is £14.4 million from the European Social Fund and £1 million from the European Regional Development Fund to the end of 1993.
Projects
Ninety-four projects have been approved to date and they will fully take up the Structural Funds available. It is anticipated that projects will have a multiplier effect, creating sustainable employment and that innovatory activity undertaken will serve as models for future developments in the provision of services to the disabled and the disadvantaged.
Funding is provided to successful applicants at a rate of 65 per cent. An important criteria for selection is the ability of any particular organisation to provide matching funding of the balance of 35 per cent. The Horizon Initiative, and the other Community Initiatives, have broken new ground in providing funding to both voluntary, community and statutory organisations and, as a result, the number of direct beneficiaries of funding from the European Social Fund has been greatly extended in Ireland.
