Vol. 467 No. 7
321 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the plans, if any, he has to introduce a scheme of grant aid to assist the owners of older hotels in carrying out necessary remedial works in view of the stringent EU fire regulations that are resulting in these persons having to spend significant sums of money upgrading their premises. [14013/96]
The primary vehicle for grant assisting developments in the hotel sector is the Operational Programme for Tourism 1994-99.
Decisions on grant applications under the programme are made by autonomous management boards which include representatives of the State and independent professionals and I have no function in this regard. The essential criteria on which these board's judge applications is the projects ability to attract overseas visitors, increase tourism earnings and to create sustainable employment. Work necessary specifically to satisfy the fire regulations would not, in itself, satisfy these criteria to qualify for support under the programme.
