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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 13 Nov 1996

Vol. 471 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Industrial Development in Border Counties.

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this matter which is of the utmost importance to the region I represent. I ask the Minister for Finance to review Border funding so that provision can be made to encompass capital investment for infrastructural development in Border regions.

The fund for peace and peconciliation, which is 75 per cent funded by the European Union, is distributed on the basis of 80 per cent to Northern Ireland and 20 per cent to the six Border counties. Funding from that for capital investment — the building of factories — has been secured by Northern Ireland. No such allowance is made for the six Border counties.

I ask the Minister for Finance for a review based on the reasoning that the much talked about Washington Conference and the matchmaker programme established after the peace process have not delivered the jobs, especially to the constituency of Cavan-Monaghan. The partnership programme was set up in 1995 to form a strategic alliance between companies in the Border region and North America. It is claimed that, since it was established, hundreds of jobs have been created. Of the 15 companies who originally participated and the nine involved at present, not one set up in Cavan, Monaghan, Sligo or Leitrim. All the companies had to set up in Donegal or Louth. There is a real need, therefore, for factory space.

We were told, when Oireachtas Members met Forbairt and IDA officials in November 1995, that an approved project could be secured if factory space could be provided in County Monaghan. Well-serviced sites are available, one of which has a new treatment plant in anticipation of development which failed to materialise. I ask, therefore, for a re-examination of this funding to give us parity with our counterparts in Northern Ireland.

The Taoiseach spoke yesterday of the record number of jobs; 46,000 in 1994 and 57,000 in 1995. During the period from November 1994 to September 1996, unemployment in County Monaghan rose from a normal 3,073 to 3,508. This 14 per cent increase is the highest ever. That calls for action and the only way action will be obtained is to have factory space in the county which has a record in the food industry and furniture manufacturing. County Cavan also did not fare well but not as badly. During the same period, it had a 6 per cent increase in unemployment.

There should be recognition of those figures and facilities to provide the jobs because it must be recognised that the region's economy was in tatters for 25 years. It bore the brunt of the northern troubles more than Northern Ireland because the British Government piled in money. I witnessed it in the terminals, harbours, in transport, the airports, etc. We got nothing. We suffered then and, when matters improved and there was an expectation that the economy would develop by increased funding, we were still no better off. I appeal to the Minister to examine this. Once we were highly developed in the tourism industry and considered fit to compete by the IDA and the industrial development body in Northern Ireland but we now find it very difficult to compete.

I do not think I had the chance to address Deputy Leonard since he announced his retirement. He is not gone until he goes and he might change his mind. Nevertheless, I wish him every happiness in his retirement and he will bring the same grace he has brought to this House to whatever field of endeavour he applies his mind. He has been consistent on this issue which is dear to his heart. As a result of that and his detailed knowledge of the topic and the rules and regulations governing the two funds from the European Union, he will be aware that the measures under which funding is provided through the medium of the INTERREG and Delors peace programmes was agreed with the Commission at the start of the programmes. There is no scope for renegotiating the programmes at this stage. However, and this may be to what Deputy Leonard is referring, the mid-term reviews being carried out on both programmes by independent evaluators may enable some limited adjustments to be made within measures.

The funding available to the Border region across a wide variety of measures under the programmes is substantial. There are many other counties which would love to have the same access to money. The INTERREG and peace programmes between them provide for additional EU funding for the Border region of £120 million. When the full amount of public investment provided under the programmes is taken into consideration, the full extent of additional funding available to the Border region under these programmes exceeds £160 million. The investment is additional to that which is available to the Border region under the Community Support Framework, other Community initiatives and the International Fund for Ireland.

Funding under the various measures of the peace programme was based on the weighting given to the various constituent sectors by the EU Commission task force which took wide-ranging consultations in the target area. Without exception, all recognised the emphasis the programme needed to place on measures to support peace and reconciliation. There was no support for the view that the programme should allocate significant sums to infrastructure. The overwhelming consensus of those consulted endorsed the view that the prospect of lasting peace requires efforts to overcome the effects of the disruption of normal economic and social relations. By addressing these challenges, the programme aims to help secure a lasting peace.

There is some provision for infrastructure investment under sub-programme 3, measure 2, of the programme where nearly £7 million has been made available for road improvements in Border counties. The programme also contains some other measures which are intended to contribute more directly to economic development, particularly sub-programme 5.

Measures 1 and 2 of that sub-programme offer some scope for additional assistance in the area of provision of industrial sites. These measures are administered by the commercial banks and ADM Ltd. respectively. An essential condition is that relevant Government Departments and the county enterprise boards are involved. The total amount of funding available to measure 2 is £2 million so it is obvious that the scope is extremely limited. Any decision on a refocusing or reallocation of funding can only be made with the approval of the joint monitoring committee, which includes Commission representatives as well as representatives of the various sectoral departments and implementing agencies. The Deputy may be aware of criticism from all sectors in Northern Ireland of the funding of an advance factory in Strabane under this sub-programme. The question of additionality was raised in that connection and I would not like to hear similar criticism levelled should this measure be availed of in a similar way in the Border counties. It should be noted that considerable investment in infrastructural services in the Border region has been made under the Ireland-Northern Ireland INTERREG programme.

When drawing up the INTERREG programme the Government believed that a coherent economic development strategy for the Border region was dependent on infrastructural foundations. It agreed that the bulk of the funding on the Southern side should be allocated to the infrastructural and environmental sub-programmes. Roads, sanitary services, electricity networks and telecommunications are vital in underpinning tourism, agriculture, food processing and industrial and service sectors.

The Commission accepted the argument that a significant part of INTERREG funding should be invested in infrastructure, and more than £32 million out of the £72 million was reserved for such areas. When the matching funding elements provided by the State and State agencies is added, the total available for infrastructure in the Border counties comes to more than £51 million.

Under the infrastructure sub-programme special emphasis is being placed on investment in non-national roads additional to the main Operational Programme on Transport. This includes the improvement of roads of importance to economic and rural community development in the Border area, including cross-Border roads that were closed due to security problems. Other road improvements include projects complementary to the Trans-European Road Network.

The energy provision relates principally to funding for electricity interconnecting projects between the Northern and Southern electricity systems, including the restoration of the main interconnector on the Louth-Armagh border. These projects are of significance to the development of the electricity market and to the containment of costs.

Funding for telecommunications is supporting the creation and development of a digital communications system which will benefit communities on both sides of the Border. Exporters are increasingly dependent on telecommunications for marketing, purchasing and electronic transfers for cash transactions. Industrialists are reluctant to locate in areas where modern telecommunication facilities are not available. Much money has already been invested in infrastructure in a manner of which the Deputy may not be fully aware.

Regarding the registered increase in unemployment in the two counties the Deputy has the honour to represent, one should go behind some of the statistics. For example, previously a husband with a dependent spouse was registered as one person on the live register. A couple now have the right to register separately, and many women have chosen to so do for a variety of reasons and, therefore, the same economic unit or household is registered as two persons on the live register rather than one. The discrepancy between the Labour Force Survey and the live register is explained in part by such administrative procedures. There may be a similar explanation for the rise in numbers on the live register in the enterprising counties of Cavan and Monaghan at a time when there has been an unprecedented level of economic activity throughout the country.

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