Vol. 487 No. 1
68 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the position regarding the approval of projects under the URBAN scheme; the location and nature of the projects approved; the amounts of money drawn down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3281/98]
As I indicated in my reply to a similar question by the Deputy on 3 December 1997, responsibility for the approval of projects under the Operational Programme for URBAN in Ireland, 1996-99, rests not with my Department but with the steering group in each of the three selected areas.
The URBAN programme represents an integrated, strategic approach to addressing the economic, social and environmental needs of the selected areas and the actions funded give practical effect to this strategy. Action plans for 1996-99 were drawn up for each area by its steering group and were subsequently approved by the national monitoring committee for the programme last year. It is under these action plans that individual projects are approved.
A total of £700,000 has been drawn down by each of the three steering groups to date. Based on projected expenditure in each area, draw down is expected to increase in 1998 and 1999.
Under the terms of the operating agreements between my Department and steering groups, annual reports are to be produced by each group by the end of February of each year. The first of these annual reports are due at the end of this month and they will contain details of projects approved.
