Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 January 2005
611 Mr. Lowry asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the amount which has been distributed to date under the dormant accounts fund; the amount of this which has been given to agencies or organisations in north Tipperary; the date on which it was given; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1308/05]
View answerDecisions on the disbursement of funds from dormant accounts moneys are a matter for the Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursements Board, an independent body established under the Dormant Accounts Acts. The board engaged Area Development Management Limited to administer the initial round of funding on its behalf. To date the board has approved 420 projects for funding totalling approximately €42 million.
Four applications have been approved for projects in north Tipperary totalling €222,687. Details of these applications are as follows: the Autistic Outreach Unit, Ardcroney —€20,000, approved by the board in June 2004; Borrisokane Area Development Company Limited, Borrisokane —€3,000, approved by the board in August 2004; Borrisokane Area Development Company Limited, Borrisokane —€17,687, approved by the board in August 2004; North Tipperary VEC, Nenagh —€182,000, approved by the board in December 2004.
The drawdown of funding is subject to the satisfactory completion of legal contracts between the individual groups and the board. As part of this process, groups are required to submit necessary documentation such as agreed budgets, tax clearance certificates, evidence of insurance etc. to Area Development Management before payments are made. While contracts have been signed in respect of the first three projects listed above, Area Development Management awaits the receipt of certain documentation before it is in a position to make payments in respect of the approved grants.
612 Mr. Lowry asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will consider expanding the funding criteria of the dormant accounts fund to include groups and organisations in Area Development Management partnership companies areas; if he will consider some alternative to allow areas which are not CLÁR, RAPID or drugs task force areas to apply for funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1309/05]
View answerDecisions on the disbursement of dormant accounts funds are a matter for the Dormant Accounts Fund Disbursements Board, an independent body established under the Dormant Accounts Acts. The board has engaged Area Development Management Limited to administer the initial round of funding on its behalf which will involve the disbursement of up to €60 million from the fund to assist programmes or projects targeting three broad categories of persons, those affected by social and economic disadvantage, those affected by educational disadvantage and persons with a disability.
The bulk of dormant accounts funding is initially targeted at those areas designated as most disadvantaged, namely, RAPID, CLÁR and drugs task force areas. In this regard, all allocations under this round of funding within the social and economic category are in respect of such areas. However, projects which are not in RAPID, CLÁR or drugs task force areas can qualify for assistance under the educational disadvantage and persons with a disability categories.
The Dormant Accounts (Amendment) Bill 2004, which is before the Oireachtas, provides for key changes in decision-making on disbursements. The arrangements applying to any future rounds of funding including eligible areas may fall for consideration in this context.
