Officials of my Department have met with European Commission officials on at least two occasions since May 2002 at which consideration was given to the possibility of reclassifying the remaining 15% of County Monaghan as more severely handicapped. As that part of County Monaghan is currently designated as less severely handicapped did not satisfy the criteria for designation as more severely handicapped when the last reclassification took place. In the meetings with my officials to which I have referred, the Commission officials indicated that any formal request now for further reclassification confined to a part of the country to the exclusion of other areas would inevitably lead the Commission to ask us to justify our current designation and classifications for all areas. As this could lead to the possibility of the current classification of disadvantaged areas being open to question the timing and nature of any further re-classification would require very careful consideration. It is estimated that the additional annual cost of extending more severely handicapped status to the remainder of County Monaghan would be €247,000.
