Deirdre Clune
Question:433 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the reason a company (details supplied) did not receive Access funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24260/01]
Written Answers. - ACCESS Scheme.
My decisions on the ACCESS scheme were based on the recommendations made by the advisory committee which evaluated all eligible applications. Unfortunately, on foot of this evaluation the project referred to by the Deputy was not recommended and was not included in the list of projects put before me for consideration. The funding available under ACCESS is £36 million. The scheme attracted great interest and was oversubscribed with 180 project promoters seeking grant aid in the order of £224 million. In these circumstances difficult decisions had to be taken and many worthwhile projects had to be omitted from the final list.