Cohesion Funding of £2.2 million was approved by the European Commission for stage 1 of the Westport Sewerage Scheme in March 1994. Stage 1 provides for the planning and design of the scheme, investigation contracts, land acquisition and the procurement and processing of tenders. In the light of recent progress on the acquisition of a site for the treatment plant, the European Commission, at a recent Cohesion Fund Monitoring meeting, indicated that they would be prepared to modify the Stage 1 decision to take account of the revised completion date of 31 December 1997 for this stage. Accordingly, the Commission no longer propose to close off the application. A further application for Cohesion Fund assistance for the construction of the scheme will be submitted to the Commission next year.