I refer the Deputy to my reply to Deputy Rabbitte on 21 October regarding the concerns expressed about expenditure under the operational programme of the BMW regional assembly. I said then that the BMW regional assembly had pointed out that the €644 million shortfall was based on expenditure to date, relative to the original indicative forecasts set out in the regional operational programme in 2000. It is important to set this figure in context to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding.
There were a number of unavoidable delays in getting some measures up and running. These included the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001 which was followed by severe weather conditions which restricted progress in on-farm investment schemes while delays in State aid approvals affected tourism measures, waste management and some on-farm investment schemes. The broadband measure was hampered by difficulties in the IT sector. Administrative delays and tight budgetary conditions were responsible for limited delays in a number of areas.
In contrast, several measures are performing very well. Local authority expenditure on non-national roads is ahead of target. Other measures performing well are county enterprise boards, fishery harbours infrastructure, Teagasc advisory services and the local development programmes.
The fishery harbours measure includes both Gaeltacht and island harbour infrastructure. While the focus for fishery harbours generally is in respect of fishing catches and quotas, the overlying rationale for my Department's investment is mainly for the purpose of providing basic access to the islands in line with stated Government policy. While there have been delays in commencing some measures, it is still anticipated that these measures will spend their full allocation by 2006.
I understand much of the underspend money relates to projects which have been approved and are in progress across various measures but for which no funding had been paid out at the end of December 2002. I share these concerns about the underspend and while a number of the programmes do not come within my Department's remit, I will keep the issue under review during the remaining period of the NDP. The development of infrastructure is vital to balanced regional development.
Under the community development support programmes, my Department assists local self-help and community development initiatives targeted at disadvantaged communities in both rural and urban communities nationwide. In the BMW region a total of 56 community based projects are in receipt of funding. This includes six new projects which came on-stream with effect from September 2003, in line with my Department's ongoing commitment to the BMW region. The annual investment in the region under the community development support programmes comes to €6.4 million.
Both the BMW and southern and eastern regions are covered by Gaeltacht schemes pertaining to strategic non-national roads, strategic piers and village renewal. Expenditure on strategic roads and village renewal is on target in both regions to date.
The CLÁR programme covers most of the BMW region. Of the 361,901 who live in CLÁR areas, 249,937 live in the BMW region. The only BMW counties not in the CLÁR programme are Laois and Offaly. The measures in the programme support physical, economic and social infrastructure in the targeted areas.