As the national authority for the European Social Fund, all ESF transfers to Ireland come through my Department. In 1996, Ireland's ESF receipts amounted to £252.989 million. My Department's current projection of total ESF receipts for 1997 is £313.7 million; among the variables which would impact on the final outturn for 1997 is the exchange rate of the Irish pound against the ECU.
Almost all ESF aid is transferred to other Departments and agencies and to private beneficiaries for use under approved operational programmes, community initiatives and innovative actions programmes.
My Department is directly responsible for managing a number of operational programmes and community initiatives which receive support from the Social Fund. In the case of some programmes, EU aid is also provided from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Department of Finance, in its capacity as the national authority for the European Regional Development Fund, is the central recipient of all European Regional Development Fund funds from Brussels.
Details of EU receipts in 1996 in respect of the programmes which my Department administers, together with latest forecasts for 1997, are as follows: