asked the Taoiseach the plans, if any, the Government have to ensure that Ireland achieves the maximum benefit from the new structural funds for under-developed regions agreed at the most recent Brussels Summit.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Structural Funds.
2.
The aim of the Government is to ensure that the framework regulation on reform of the structural funds, which is to be adopted by 31 May 1988 will bring the maximum possible benefit to Ireland. The regulation will reflect the undertakings secured at the last European Council in Brussels that a special effort should be made, through the funds, to help the least-prosperous regions, and that Ireland should qualify under this principle.
An important feature of the Commission's proposals is that assistance from the structural funds should from now on be predominantly to support programmes as compared to the largely project-by-project approach up to now. The intention of the Government to move towards this programme approach, beginning with an initial set of programmes for certain areas or regions but gradually extending to embrace the entire State, was announced in October last. More recently, there was an announcement of a decision by the Government, in fulfilment of an undertaking in the Programme for National Recovery, to implement an integrated programme for rural development in selected pilot areas. These decisions ensure that we will be properly geared and organised to take maximum advantage of the additional resources and of the new arrangements under the structural funds, once these are adopted by the Council.
I should add that, in view of the importance of the measures to meet the requirements of the internal market and the parallel deployment of our increased receipts from the structural funds, the Irish position is being closely co-ordinated, ministerially, within the framework of the structures for that purpose established by the Government.
Will the Minister indicate the role, if any, of local authorities in the matter? Will she indicate if there is any intention on the part of the Government to introduce a function for regional authorities? Will she indicate, in so far as the existence of geographic integrated programmes is concerned, whether every part of the country will be covered by an integrated programme or whether particular geographic areas will be favoured by being included and others not by not being included?
At the outset the Commission's proposals will mean that each member state which has a least developed region within its ambit — that includes the whole of Ireland — must produce a regional development plan. We have to prepare such a plan for the State as a whole. Under that umbrella there will be operational programmes comprising some national and regionally based programmes for specific geographic areas. We have organised and announced three of those already, one for Dublin, one for the west and another for the greater Cork area. It is not envisaged that separate regional authorities will be set up by the Government and the role of local authorities has already been defined in the three areas selected for operational programmes under the structural funds. Represented on the steering management committee for the Dublin programme will be the Dublin city and county manager.
I should like to seek an assurance from the Minister that those parts of the country which are not included in one of the three selected areas for integrated programmes, Dublin, the greater Cork area and the west, will not lose any money by virtue of the fact that the Government have not chosen so far to present integrated programmes covering, for instance, the rest of Leinster, the rest of Connacht-Ulster, or the rest of Munster.
When I announced the decision, on behalf of the Government in October last, to change from a project-by-project approach for part of the country to a programme approach I said that decision did not mean that funds would be transferred from areas which were not included in a programme area to areas which were. I also said that the three areas announced represented a first step and that the intention was that the entire State would be covered by a programme approach.
In view of the fact that what we are talking about is extra funds and not the transfer of existing funds will the Minister go so far as to say that not only will no funds be transferred from the areas already benefiting to those which have been chosen but that the areas not chosen will get an equivalent amount, proportionately, of the extra funds to the areas which have been chosen?
Of course.
Will the Minister in due course quantify the amount of extra money she expects to flow to those who have been chosen and to those who have not been chosen?
In his statement to the Dáil after the Brussels Summit the Taoiseach said that the decisions on the structural funds would mean a substantial increase, running to hundreds of millions of pounds, for this country. It is not possible to quantify the amount until such time as the framework regulation has been set in place and adopted by the Council.
I should like to assure the Minister of State that I intend to return to this subject.
Will the Minister indicate why an integrated regional plan for the south eastern area has not been submitted?
I answered that question when I said it was decided that three areas should be chosen for the three programmes. We have not had a programme approach here before and the Government would have been illadvised to have transferred the whole country from a project-by-project approach to a programme approach and dividing the country into regions. We can learn from the first three programmes and it is the intention to cover the State by a programme approach.
What criterion was used to exclude the south eastern region from the submission?
There was no criterion used to exclude any area. The Government made a decision to select certain areas. That decision does not mean that the areas not included in a programme will suffer or will be disadvantaged in any way. I announced that in October.
Is the Minister aware that the Community have taken a very jaundiced view of that response? Will the Minister indicate whether the Community are equally concerned that the proposed increase in the social fund will be aggregated in total into the Exchequer at national level rather than, as happens now, being dispersed into the regions concerned?
As I told the House, the draft framework regulation is under discussion by a Council working group and it will go from there to COREPER and, finally, to the Council. There will not be a decision on this until the end of May. I am pleased to say that the German Presidency is pushing ahead to meet the target of the end of May. I should like to tell the House, in response to the Deputy's previous supplementary that we are the first member state to have initiated an integrated rural development programme and to have selected pilot areas for inclusion under a rural development programme.
It is like the lottery.
I am calling on Deputy O'Keeffe for a final supplementary. We cannot dwell unduly on this question.
Deputy Bruton was in Government for long enough and did not do anything about this.
The Deputy actually stopped one programme in Dublin.
We will see how this works out. In my view there is a lot of hype involved in this and it does not amount to very much.
Now that the Minister for Communications has finished his intervention I should like to ask the Minister of State about the approach of the Government to the administration and management of programmes, in particular the integrated rural development programmes. Is the approach to be one that is centrally controlled or will the Minister accept, as I do, that fundamental to an approach to regional development is the need to have the administration and management of such programmes within the regions?
With regard to the operation of the programmes, two of which are outside Dublin, it is the Government's intention to ensure that there will be proper regional representation on the steering committees for those two areas. For example, local authority executives will be included with local private sector interests. The Department of Industry and Commerce will be one of the co-ordinating members of the steering committee for Dublin. It is envisaged that in the regions the regional manager of the IDA will be the representative rather than a representative from the central Department in Dublin.
I would like to make one final point.
I am calling the next question. I have given a lot of latitude on this question. Ceist 3 led' thoil.
A Cheann Comhairle, would you permit me to elucidate one point——
This is Question Time, Deputy.
Will such control be centrally based with representation from the provinces, as it were, or will it be based down the country?
Control of each regional programme will be a matter for the management steering committee in each case.
That is where the whole thing will crumble.