asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the present position in so far as Ireland is concerned regarding EEC regional policy.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - EEC Regional Policy.
7.
As Deputies are no doubt aware, on 4th March the Council agreed on the regulations setting up the European Regional Development Fund and established a draft supplementary budget for the fund. The instruments are now with the European Parliament and we expect that the necessary procedures will be completed very soon so that the regulations can be formally adopted. Expenditure from the fund will be retrospective to the 1st January last.
This will complete the long process of negotiation on the establishment of the fund which will form the main instrument of Community regional policy. In the Minister's view, the fund should have been endowed with considerably greater resources. However, the economic situation in the Community in the last year was such that this was not possible and to reach agreement on a fund of the present size is a considerable achievement by the member states. The Minister is confident that it will play an increasingly significant role in the operation and growth of the Community regional policy over the years ahead.
For Ireland the fund is a new source of development finance. It will form an important addition to our own resources and it represents a tangible commitment by the Community to the principle of regional development which is so important to us. The Government is now examining the most suitable projects for submission for assistance from the fund.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary still of the opinion, in fact, that the allocation to Ireland from the fund is still in the nature of a hand-out, as he said in the course of his address here?
The Deputy is taking what I said completely out of context.
I am not. The Parliamentary Secretary is on the record as having said that.
That is not a question.
I wonder if the Parliamentary Secretary has revised his view. There is no evidence that he has, incidentally. Could I ask him just this much—is there any indication that the Government will, in fact, segregate this fund in the allocation throughout the country or will it be lost and subsumed in the national Government Exchequer?
I understand that the Department of Finance are preparing a submission on the subject but I cannot say at the moment what the Government decision will be.
Therefore, there is no firm Government policy on whether the little that will be available will be clearly segregated and allocated for a particular purpose.
I understand the likelihood is that individual areas of expenditure will be identifiable as receiving help from this fund but where they will be I cannot tell the Deputy at this stage.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary serious when he describes the regional fund as at present constituted as being a considerable achievement by the nine member states in view of the fact that for more than a decade the Commission were attempting to have a regional fund which would result in a considerable transfer of resources from the very intensely developed regions to the less well developed areas? In view of the inadequate size of the fund, does he seriously suggest it represents a considerable achievement?
I do, although the size of the fund disappoints me. It arose in a year of peculiar difficulties not only for the Community but for nations outside the Community, and to have established it at all in this year is an achievement. Though it is disappointing, it is not a negligible sum.
In regard to a submission said to be in preparation by the Department of Finance, to whom it will be made is not clear, can the Parliamentary Secretary give an assurance that this pitifully inadequate sum will be earmarked for the 12 western counties?
I cannot.
On what basis?
We cannot debate this matter today. The Chair cannot allow Deputies an undue length of time on any one question.
Is there a time limit even on a matter of major importance?
I am not seeking to debate it. I am seeking information in a genuine, straightforward fashion. I am asking the Parliamentary Secretary if the amount will be allocated on a regional basis or will the country at large be included?
In the context of the fund, the whole country is regarded as underdeveloped and no one part of the country is regarded as being less developed than others. I cannot give the Dáil an assurance that the money, when it arrives, will be allocated to any particular area or part of an area.
Disgraceful.
The reply stated that no decision has been taken as to where the money will be spent. Will the Parliamentary Secretary make representations to the Government that the congested areas and the Gaeltacht areas, which are more depressed than others, will receive an adequate allocation?
The fund will be allocated here in the best national interest as the Government judge it.
What percentage of the total regional fund, including the Irish Government's amount and the EEC amount, will the £35 million represent?
I think the answer is 6 per cent——
With a small gratuity from other countries to make it seem palatable.
——with an additional six million units of account which will come from other countries with the exception of Italy. As I understand the situation, applications will be made for allocations from this fund and our application will be initiated by the Government.
Arising out of a very important matter——
The Chair has given great latitude.
——is the Parliamentary Secretary implying that because all Ireland has been designated an underdeveloped area, the Government are confined——
Of course not.
Is it not open to the Government, then, to apply the benefits to the undeveloped areas of the country?
There are social considerations present in the Government's mind but I cannot give an undertaking now in regard to a particular set of counties.