Vol. 440 No. 4
6 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for the Environment the effects the reduction in the £8 billion contribution from the EU will have on the various projects included in the National Development Plan, 1994-1999, for which he is responsible; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
9 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment the total financial allocation under the National Development Plan, 1994-1999, for areas for which his Department has responsibility; the allocation following the overall cut of 8.5 per cent announced by the Government on 3 March 1994; the way in which this will be applied to the projects for which he has responsibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
42 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for the Environment the adjustment, if any, required to his Department's projects in the National Development Plan, 1994-1999, arising from the anticipated shortfall in funds.
63 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment if he has satisfied himself that there will be no diminution of funds for road, bridge, footpath and roadside drainage or other improvements arising from a possible reduction of Structural Funds from the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
70 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for the Environment whether European Union funding will be available in 1994 for the improvement and maintenance of county roads; and if he will give details of allocations proposed.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 9, 42, 63 and 70 together.
The total financial allocation made in the National Development Plan for services within my Department's area of responsibility was approximately £2,500 million at 1993 prices. Over 40 per cent of this expenditure was put forward for assistance from the Cohesion Fund, and will not be affected by the pro rata adjustments put forward by the Government in relation to programmes to be aided under the Community Support Framework, 1994-1999. Overall, therefore, the impact of these adjustments on my Department's allocation will be marginal.
As regards projects, I refer to the statement by the Minister for Finance in the debate on a Private Members' motion on the National Development Plan on 8 March last, which gave details of the different stages in the Structural Funds process, involving the National Development Plan, the Community Support Framework and the Operational Programmes. The selection of individual projects for EU assistance is a further phase in the process, following the approval of the Operational Programmes and it will be an on-going process throughout the implementation period. It is not possible, therefore, at this stage to give details of the specific projects which will attract Structural Fund assistance.
The National Plan seeks EU assistance in respect of an investment of £235 million between 1994 and 1999 on the improvement of non-national roads. Negotiations on this and all other aspects of the plan are continuing. In the meantime, the 1994 Estimates provide for total State grants of £101.4 million for non-national roads, an increase of £26.1 million or 35 per cent on the 1993 provision. An amount of £33.6 million from the total 1994 provision has been set aside for a scheme of specific grants for individual improvement projects on non-national roads which have a significant and quantifiable economic impact, particularly on industrial, tourism, agricultural, fishery, forestry and rural development. This investment is expected to be eligible for EU financial support. Local authorities were invited on 4 February last to submit details of suitable projects to my Department and grant allocations to individual authorities will be made as soon as possible.
Will the Minister agree that in the National Development Plan 1994-1999 a figure of £7.98 billion was clearly specified as the EU contribution to the plan? However, we are now told it will be £7.2 billion, a difference of £800 million. Will he agree that as a result of mishandling the whole process a number of projects in the plan will be affected? What projects under his control will be affected? What effect will these have on local and regional roads which are full of potholes and in a dreadful state? Have local authorities been advised that some of the plans they submitted will not be proceeded with?
I agree there is a difference of £800 million and that the new figure is £7.2 billion approximately. That was agreed last October. Nevertheless over £7 billion is an extraordinary amount of money to have available for major development. It amounts to £2,100 per head of population in this country; £1,700 in Greece; £1,650 in Portugal and £1,400 in Spain.
Answer my question.
By comparison with other countries Ireland has come out best.
The Minister is trying to fool himself.
As far as individual projects are concerned there is the National Development Plan and the negotiations in Brussels, the Community Support Framework which is under discussion and the Operational Programmes. The Deputy is familiar with those processes. It is not possible to say what projects will be affected at this stage. Some will be affected and some will be delayed but my plan is to scale down local authority operations and make them more efficient so that we will not have to abandon any schemes. However, engineering and other aspects may need to be tailored.
As far as local authorities are concerned this year, allocations for the first phase have been made. They were asked on 4 February to submit specific programmes to take up the £33 million and I expect to have these in the course of the next few days. I will make an announcement to the local authorities before the middle of April.
On the question of whether funds will be available from the EU for county and regional roads, as the Deputy is aware those representing Fine Gael in the European Parliament said I was unwise to pursue the course of getting funds for county roads from the EU. I am happy to tell the House I have been making spectacular progress in this area.
The Minister said £2,500 million was his Department's slice of the national plan as originally presented. To what has that figure been reduced? What roads, sewerage schemes, water supply schemes and urban renewal schemes will not proceed or will be scaled back? What part of the £2,500 million was made up from Cohesion Funds?
Approximately £1,100 million will come from Cohesion Funds which are not affected by the present debate.
That is less than 50 per cent. The Minister said most of it came from the Cohesion Funds.
That would leave £1,300 million on which a pro rata adjustment could be made. It seems as if there will be an overall cut of 4 per cent which, over five years, would be £100 million. There is emphasis on and support for urban renewal programmes in the negotiations and I do not expect any cut in these programmes. I have had discussions with county managers and county engineers regarding tailoring schemes, without reducing the overall effectiveness of road development, to meet our needs in a way which would help us to get the same outturn——
Narrower roads.
It is the surface that concerns drivers.
What about sewerage schemes?
I expect to succeed.
The Government produced a plan which incorporated considerable waste. The Minister's reply seems to indicate there was a great deal of inefficiency in the preparation of the plan and spending the money. Is the Minister serious when he says he will narrow roads, lower standards or ignore environmental aspects of developments in an effort to work with the reduced amount which was brought about by the Government's incompetence in dealing with the matter? What projects will be affected?
It is laughable in a way——
It is no joke.
——because everyone talks about a loss of £800 million when the advice offered by Fine Gael was there was no prospect of getting anything like that amount.
Fine Gael would have been happy to accept £4,500 billion.
Answer the question.
Fine Gael was prepared to accept a lot less. There is no waste in the plan. Is the Deputy suggesting I should not review the plan and see where I can get better value for money?
The Minister should have got better value from the first day.
The Deputy can be assured there will be no diminution of effort in road development as far as the environment is concerned. There is no reference in what I said which would allow the Deputy suggest that might happen. I said there would be some scaling down on projects and some delay on others but I hoped not to eliminate any of them.
Do I understand the Minister correctly that the roads programme will bear the entire burden of cuts in the national plan? Will he state whether all the roads projects identified in the plan, specifically the projects associated with the Dublin Transport Initiative, will proceed in the period 1994-99 and that none will be dropped during the lifetime of the plan?
That is most certainly my intention.
