Vol. 573 No. 2
184 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the number and location of applications received in his Department under the CLÁR rural development proposal in 2003; the number and location of successful applicants; the number and location of those refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24759/03]
There are 20 measures in the CLÁR programme ranging from local road improvements to village enhancement and sports capital grants. Once the measures and related funding are settled by the Department, the measures are generally implemented by local authorities or other official agencies. Accordingly, in the case of measures, such as village enhancement and bilingual signage, the beneficiaries only become known to me and my Department when the claims for payment of the CLÁR contribution are submitted by the appropriate agency.
I am arranging to have all of the information in respect of each measure, as is available to my Department to date, sent to the Deputy directly.
The only measure where applications are processed by my Department is the single to three phase electricity conversion scheme for small businesses and enterprises. CLÁR funds the cost of the customer contribution to the ESB subject to certain limits.
The eligibility criteria for this measure are as follows: the business must have been previously in receipt of assistance, financial or mentoring, but not earlier than 1 October 1997, from either the County Enterprise Board, Údarás na Gaeltachta and-or the Leader group, which are consulted on the merits of the conversion; and the business must have no more than ten employees.
Since January, 52 applications under this measure have been processed. Of these 44 businesses in 11 of the counties in CLÁR have received assistance. Eight were rejected as the criteria laid down for the measure were not met.
