Vol. 473 No. 4
487 Mr. E. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will pay matching funds from his Department to the ex-Irish Steel employees under the re-adaption aid scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1300/97]
As I previously indicated to the House, the provision of additional matching funding does not arise in relation to the readaptation aid of 627,000 ECU approved by the EU Commission in late November 1996 under Article 56 (2) (b) of the ECSC Treaty for 209 former Irish Steel workers made redundant in 1994, 1995 and early 1996 under the 1994 Irish Steel restructuring plan. The extra statutory redundancy payments received by the former workers constitutes the matching funding and this has been accepted by the EU Commission. The only other occasion when readaptation aid was paid to former Irish Steet workers by the EU Commission was in 1985 and on that occasion the extra statutory redundancy payments received by the workers made redundant also constituted the matching funding.
