asked the Minister for Finance if he has applied for an EEC Regional Fund grant to develop Bere Island, County Cork; and, if not, why.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Bere Island Development.
1.
I should like to refer the Deputy to the replies given by me to questions in this House on 6th May, 1975, and 1st July, 1975, in connection with the regional fund in which I indicated that the selection by the Commission of the European Communities of a project put forward by the Irish Government for fund assistance would not increase the level of aid paid to that particular project. Regional fund aid would instead be applied to increase the total pool of resources available to the State to finance additional industrial and infrastructural investment particularly in the areas of greatest need. This approach places priority on increasing the overall volume of regional development investment rather than giving additional assistance to particular regional development projects already in progress. As such, it has been endorsed by Mr. Thomson, Commissioner for Regional Policy, as yielding the best results from the point of view of EEC regional policy.
I have given the Deputy this rather detailed explanation first, to explain to him and to other interested parties that the inclusion or non-inclusion of a particular project in this country's application for regional fund aid does not affect in any way the financing of that project and, secondly, to emphasise that the real benefit of the regional fund to this country lies in the fact that it makes additional resources available to enable the Government to expand its own regional development efforts.
Against this background the answer to the question asked by the Deputy is that the list of investments submitted by the Government for regional fund aid this year did not include any project from Bere Island, County Cork. Any proposals for assistance to projects on Bere Island, or in any other areas, out of the additional resources that will be available to the Government as a result of our participation in the regional fund should be submitted to the appropriate Government Department or agency directly concerned with the project.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary indicating there was no application at all from the local authority for a grant for the development of Bere Island?
It is correct to say there was no application in connection with the development of Bere Island. There were projects from County Cork all right but no project to cover Bere Island.
Are we to take it that unless the local authority sponsors applications the Government will not make any application? In my own county money was drawn from the regional fund. The Government made application on behalf of an industrial project for which the local authority had made application. Is the Parliamentary Secretary now saying that local authorities must make an application or can other bodies make application for money from the regional fund?
The application should be submitted to the appropriate Government Department or agency directly concerned in the project.
By whom?
If it is a project the county council wish to sponsor then the county council should make the first move.
Is it not true to say that the experience in the first bunch of applications was that all the applications were co-ordinated by the Government Departments concerned? The actual proposals originated from the local authorities, the IDA and Gaeltarra Éireann and the Government Department acted as co-ordinators in sending the projects to the Commission for adjudication.
The Deputy seems to be imparting information rather than seeking it.
He seems to be in a better position to do that than the Parliamentary Secretary is.