Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 May 2013
62. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he intends making any money available from the dormant accounts fund for small projects in RAPID areas this year and also for flagship projects nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20471/13]
View answerDisbursements on dormant accounts measures are paid in the first instance “up front” from Departmental Votes in the same way as with any other spending programme. Therefore, Government Departments have to source funding for dormant accounts programmes from their annual Exchequer allocations. I have provided funding in my Department’s estimates for 2013 of €2 million for RAPID, which will be used to meet the Department’s existing contractual commitments on RAPID projects throughout the country, mainly Sports Capital top-ups and CCTV systems, jointly funded with the Departments of Transport, Tourism and Sport and Justice and Equality respectively. However this is not reimbursed from the Dormant Accounts Fund. At a time of severe budgetary pressures, resulting in reduced allocations across all Departmental Votes, there is a need to prioritise and keep all existing funding programmes under review. In this context I will also keep under review proposed new funding measures under the Dormant Accounts Fund.
