I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House this afternoon to deal with this matter which is causing concern in many areas of the country at the moment.
The Minister will be aware that for some time there has been a fairly widespread expectation that EU funding, through the mechanism of the Cohesion Fund, would be available in many regions to undertake work on some vital water and sewage schemes which have been awaiting sanction approval for some time. The expectation was build up in the discussion on the allocation of Cohesion Funds that fairly sizeable funding would be available to undertake a number of important projects. In light of the availability of such funding detailed applications were submitted by the Department to the European Commission. The understanding was that Cohesion funding would be applied in much the same way as other Structural Funds.
The point at issue here is the reason for the delay in the sanctioning of the Cohesion funding at European level. I would welcome if the Minister could throw some light on this. He will be aware that payments have already been made in respect of many applications for Structural Funds, and projects and schemes are under way in tourism and other areas.
It is a cause of concern in many communities that even though EU funding is flowing from other Departments, Cohesion funding is not being provided for water and sewerage schemes and that this will further delay the possibility of schemes being undertaken. It will also delay the planning process, as the Minister will be aware from his involvement in local authorities. Such authorities will have to prepare detailed plans and specifications and this takes time. There is also the question of what the position will be with regard to State funding. It is on the basis of such funding that money is drawn from the EU Cohesion Fund.
I am particularly interested in projects in County Clare. There is a major project for south-east Clare which involves the whole area of Lough Derg. The Minister will be aware that for some time there has been widespread fear of the pollution risk in Lough Derg and it is necessary to deal with this in a comprehensive way. As a result a number of local authorities came together to draw up a detailed application, which has been submitted. At this stage there is no indication of whether this scheme, in whole or in part, will be funded.
In other parts of the county there is deep concern about the delay in funding. I refer especially to towns like Lahinch which have been granted urban renewal status under the tourism programme designed by the Minister for Tourism and Trade. Because of the inadequate water and sewerage supply services in Lahinch, the town cannot expand or develop. It has been part of a north Clare scheme, which included part of the greater Burren, which is a sensitive area because of matters connected with water apart from interpretative centres. There has been a hold up in developments in Lahinch and north Clare which is putting untold pressure on the existing service and a stay on the planning of projects of major significance and importance which would be of enormous benefit to towns like Lahinch.
Part of the application for moneys from the Cohesion Fund relates to Lahinch. We hope that the Department may directly fund a separate smaller scheme. Even though it was anticipated that the smaller scheme may have been given the go ahead, this now seems to be caught up in the overall financial allocation from the Department's budget for 1996.
There is widespread disillusionment with the Cohesion Fund. The expectations people had are beginning to disintegrate and there is widespread fear in places like Lahinch, Sixmilebridge, the greater Burren and the Lough Derg areas that what was held out as a prospect of having something worthwhile done to tackle these problems will not now be undertaken. There is also a fear in many small villages which had hoped to obtain funding under either the Cohesion Funds or from the Department that many schemes will not now be undertaken. Cohesion funding would go a long way towards tackling problems which have been chronic and ongoing for many years. People fear that if this opportunity is lost it will be many years before they can look forward to having decent water and sewerage services in some of our most important towns and villages, especially in areas which are highly dependent for their survival on tourism and developments related to it. Places like Lisdoonvarna, Lahinch, Killaloe and Quilty in west Clare have been looking forward to the prospect of using Cohesion funding to get something worthwhile done.
I am sorry for drawing this issue out and I do not want it to become a political football. We want to know the facts. What is the situation with regard to Cohesion funding? When is it likely to be released? Is it being held up because of the difficulties there may be in determining the amount of allocations from the Government? Will the Minister throw some light on what is an unclear situation at present?
