Gerry Reynolds
Question:111 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Finance if his Department will give funding to a community organisation (details supplied) in County Sligo for the provision of administration assistance. [11187/01]
Written Answers - Peace Operational Programme.
The new peace operational programme, which will cover the period to the end of 2004, will be implemented in the Border region by a range of locally based delivery agents. Projects submitted for funding under the new programme will be subject to assessment by these agencies by reference to criteria agreed by the programme monitoring committee. Neither I nor my Department will have direct involvement in the selection of projects. It is not possible to say if a project will be funded under the new programme until it has been fully assessed by the relevant agencies.
Pending introduction of the new programme, I announced arrangements to secure the continued operation of groups which support employment in the Border counties. A fund of £2 million has been provided to meet demands from groups and I understand that this has met all current requirements. The project referred to by the Deputy has received a grant of £10,000 towards the costs of employing a project co-ordinator/manager for six months commencing January 2001. It is envisaged that funding will continue to be provided in this way until the new programme becomes operational. I would suggest that the project promoters pursue the issue of further funding with Area Development Management Limited and the Combat Poverty Agency who are jointly responsible for management of the interim funding initiative.
The peace operational programme was approved by the European Commission on 22 March. The next phase of the programme's development involves the setting out of a range of implementation issues, including the method for delivery of funds, detailed measure descriptions, and project selection criteria. This phase of development is at an advanced stage and must be completed by late June 2001. My expectation is that elements of the peace programme will be launched in early summer and that those projects currently receiving interim funding will be able to apply under the new programme around that time.