Vol. 513 No. 3
175 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Finance the proposals, if any, he has to extend the coastal resort scheme in view of the fact many communities have applied for funding and are awaiting confirmation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2462/00]
The seaside resort scheme was announced in the 1995 budget and commenced on 1 July 1995. It was extended on two occasions and terminated on 31 December 1999.
I do not propose to extend this scheme beyond that date or to designate other areas under a similar scheme as it has fulfilled its purpose by encouraging a large volume of investment in the 15 designated seaside areas. The tax cost of the scheme is provisionally estimated at £250 million to £300 million.
In addition to the cost implications of a further extension to the scheme, I had to take account of the fact that the new regional aid scheme for all EU countries commenced on 1 January 2000 and the seaside resort scheme had to finish before that date for EU related reasons. The state aids section of the EU Commission has written recently to my Department seeking information on the scheme in response to a complaint about the scheme.
