Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 9 Mar 1995

Vol. 450 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Investment in Border Areas.

Dr. O'Hanlon

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for allowing me to raise this important issue on the Adjournment. The problems of the Border region have been well recognised by the European Union which recognises all frontier regions as disadvantaged. In particular it recognises the problems we face in Ireland. The EU has allocated additional funding to Ireland in the Delors package to alleviate problems created by the violence of the past 25 years. Those who contribute to the International Fund for Ireland also recognise the problems of the Border region. The United States has contributed $20 million for this purpose and will host a conference in Washington which is being held to attract industry to the Border regions.

There are serious problems in the Border areas in terms of infrastructure compared with the position within a 20 mile radius of Dublin. If we continue the way we are going in Ireland the whole population will live within 20 miles of Dublin by the year 2010. Action must be taken to make other areas of the country more competitive.

Last week I asked the Minister for Finance the initiatives he was taking to make the Border areas more attractive for inward investment and to encourage existing industry to grow. I asked the same question yesterday of the Minister for the Environment. I also asked both Ministers if the money from external sources would be additional and both said it would. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Quinn, said it is his intention to ensure the moneys are additional and that he would give a 100 per cent guarantee that would be the case. The vast bulk of the money under the INTERREG Programme will be used to rectify infrastructural deficiencies and to make the Border counties an attractive investment location. The Minister said that is important in view of the cessation of violence.

The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Howlin, said that additional benefits are set to accrue to Border regions on foot of INTERREG II and that a further community initiative is intended to support the peace process. He went on to tell me about all the money that would be available under the INTERREG Programme. To my absolute amazement and horror, when I received details of road allocations for my constituency I discovered there is a reduction of £800,000. Much more serious is that £2.5 million has been taken from our funding and it is replaced with INTERREG money. In other words the allocation has been reduced. The Minister has taken almost £3.5 million of Exchequer funding from my constituency in return for £2.5 million of INTERREG money, which was supposed to be additional.

I appeal to the Minister of State — I thank him for coming in to reply to this matter — to press the Ministers in Government to honour their commitment that the money, particularly from external sources — from the European Union, IFI, the Delors package and the United States — targeted to Border areas, will be additional. If that is done we will be able to correct the infrastructural deficiencies recognised by the Minister for Finance, make the Border area competitive and benefit from the cessation of violence.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Allen)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue.

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the measures to assist investment infrastructure in the Border region. A modern economy needs modern infrastructure. This has been acknowledged, both by the Government and the European Union, through the emphasis on infrastructural investment in the Community Support Framework, the related operational programmes, and the Cohesion Fund.

Investment in the services for which my Department is responsible — roads, treatment and disposal of water borne wastes, water supply and urban regeneration — will exceed £2.5 billion in the period 1994 to 1999. This will pay dividends in the short term through direct and indirect employment on the schemes and in ancillary industries. In the longer term, an enhanced infrastructural base will allow us to compete effectively and promote economic and social development.

Apart from its share of the above resources, additional benefits will accrue to the Border region through a number of initiatives which should substantially boost economic progress in the region, and significantly enhance the infrastructural base on which this progress depends.

Commission approval was recently given to the Ireland-Northern Ireland INTERREG Programme. While this is a multisectoral programme comprising a wide range of measures, roads and environmental services are two important components. Together, these services have been allocated more than 35 per cent of the available EU assistance for the land borders element of the INTERREG initiative.

A monitoring committee representative of the various interests involved — the European Commission, Government Departments and other relevant interests such as the Border Regional Authority — will oversee implementation of the programme. As was the case under INTERREG I, the monitoring committee will, among other things, ensure that the principle of additionality is adhered to.

As recently as yesterday, I gave the House a full account of the position on roads investment under INTERREG II this year, and it would be superfluous to go over the same ground in detail. The House should note that the 1995 allocations are but the first tranche of an INTERREG II programme which will continue until 1999, and which will see investment exceeding £20 million in roads in the Border regions.

Investment in water and sanitary services builds capacity in the economy in several ways: it directly services development sectors; it enables the environment safely to absorb additional development; it protects the natural resource base for expansion in tourism, agriculture and food; and it underpins the competitive advantage which a clean environment can create in these areas.

INTERREG II will support investment for all these purposes in the Border region and will amount to some £14 million in the period to the end of the decade. More than £2.5 million will be available to the water and sanitary services programme in 1995, and I intend to notify eligible local authorities of the schemes to be included in the 1995 programme in the near future.

Additional EU funding is being provided to support the Northern Ireland peace process. Draft guidelines have been approved by the Commission and are being examined by the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions, the Economic and Social Committee and the Management Committee on Community Initiatives. Formal adoption of the initiative is expected around the end of April and the operational programme should be approved, following full consultation with local interests, before the end of the year.

The Border counties on the southern side should benefit under this initiative by an injection of EU aid of about £16 million per year over the next three years. Thereafter, funding over the following two years will be the subject of a review by the Commission. I am reluctant to speculate about the extent to which services under the remit of my Department and local authorities are likely to benefit, except to say that there is every prospect of additional funding, within the figure of £16 million per year being made available for measures related to urban and village renewal. It is worth nothing also that the International Fund for Ireland has already given considerable assistance for these purposes. I will keep in close touch with developments on the peace process initiative.

I am fully confident that the Border region will continue to see substantial ongoing investment in infrastructure in the years ahead. This, together with other measures, will support economic and social progress in the region and, I earnestly hope, peace on this island.