Vol. 563 No. 4
379 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the total amount of money that was allocated for the ACCESS scheme; the amount that has been allocated to date; the number of projects that were grant aided but are not now going ahead; if moneys not drawn down will be reallocated to existing projects or worthwhile projects that were not originally considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8194/03]
Offers of financial support amounting to €45.7 million in respect of 44 projects were made in August 2001 under the ACCESS scheme, which runs from 2001 to 2004. Project promoters have drawn down €5.575 million to date.
No project promoters have informed my Department that their projects will not proceed. However in the light of the very slow draw down of funds to date and the facts that the scheme terminates at the end of 2004 and that funding cannot be guaranteed beyond that date my Department is carrying out a detailed review of progress with regard to each project. When this review is completed in the next few weeks I will consider what action to take.
Question No. 380 withdrawn.
