Vol. 466 No. 1
244 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for the Marine when applications were made to his Department by Limerick Harbour Commissioners and by a private company for EU grant aid towards the purchase of a tug; and when the applications were forwarded to Brussels. [10895/96]
Limerick Harbour Commissioners first put forward a proposal for consideration for the purchase of a tug for the Shannon Estuary on 29 April 1992. This proposal was in the context of post-1993 Structural Funds.
An application was received in June 1993 from a private company, C.W. Shipping Ltd, for grant aid towards the purchase of a tug.
A towage project was included on the indicative list of projects to be funded under the Operational Programme for Transport announced on 22 May 1995 by my predecessor.
I advised the Deputy in a reply to a parliamentary question on 8 May 1996 that the EU Commission has now signalled, on the basis of an international agreement signed within the OECD, that it will no longer approve grant aid for such projects.
