Vol. 505 No. 4
41 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement in relation to negotiations with the EU Commission dealing with the failure to obtain approval for rates remission and double rent relief in the Custom House docks area. [13853/99]
The EU Commission was notified as long ago as January 1998 of this matter and my Department has discussed it on several occasions since then with the EU Commission. The commission approved last January the capital allowances for this scheme and on 9 February it sent a detailed letter to the Irish authorities raising queries about the double rent and rates reliefs for this scheme. A very detailed and comprehensive reply was sent to the commission on 8 March in response to their 9 February letter.
In accordance with EU procedures the commission published their 9 February letter in the EU official journal on 10 April inviting comments on this matter from the other member states and interested parties by 10 May. A number of interested parties sent in their comments to the commission by the required date and the Irish authorities are awaiting copies of these from the commission. However, on the latest available information, it would appear that all the comments were sent by Irish interested parties. There is to be a meeting in Brussels between my Department and the commission on 28 May to discuss the matter further and it is hoped that this will lead to a speedy resolution of the outstanding issues. I would like to emphasise that this issue has been treated as a top priority by my Department over the last 15 months who have made every endeavour to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion as quickly as possible, and this has been acknowledged and recognised by the Irish interests affected.
