Vol. 398 No. 10
52 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that the allocation by his Department of £1,000 to the Consumers' Association of Ireland is adequate to assist them in their work; the amount of money which his Department sought from the Department of Finance for this association; the way in which this figure was arrived at; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The recent allocation of £1,000 from my Department's Vote, to the Consumers Association of Ireland was decided upon by the Government in the context of the Estimates for Public Expenditure for the year 1990. These deliberations are confidential.
As I pointed out in reply to Question No. 1 on 22 March 1990, (Vol. 397, No. 4: Cols. 947-949), these moneys represent the first direct Exchequer subvention to the association for over 20 years. As I also indicated on that occasion, in the past two years the Minister for Health provided the association with funding from the national lottery which, in turn, assisted them in securing substantial funding from the European Commission.
