Vol. 408 No. 8
29 Mr. Ryan asked the Minister for Finance the amount of money which has been drawn from the EC Structural Funds, for each of the separate funds, in respect of each of the seven sub-regions of this country for 1989 and 1990; and the percentages the draw down was in each sub-region in comparison to submission for funds and approvals granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Community Support Framework for Ireland provides that the sub-regional review committees shall meet not less than twice a year to receive and consider progress reports and financial statements on current and planned implementation of measures.
In November-early December last year, the seven sub-regional review committees were provided with the first summary statement of structural expenditure in each of the sub-regions. This covered the outturn for 1989, the forecast for 1990 and a combined forecast for 1991-93 — all broken down by operational programme. Copies of the breakdown were placed in the Dáil Library.
Similar tables, showing the outturn for 1989, the outturn against forecast for 1990 and individual forecasts for the years 1991-93, are at an advanced stage of preparation in my Department and will be circulated to all of the sub-regional review committees by early June. Copies will also be placed in the Dáil Library.
It is not clear what the Deputy means when he refers to submissions for funds. If he is referring to the reports received from the working groups in each of the sub-regions prior to the submission of the national development plan to the Commission in March 1989, I would point out that the proposals for aid included in those reports in all cases greatly exceeded the resources that would be available and not all of the proposals were quantified. Thus a comparative exercise between those reports and actual spending under the Community support framework would not be feasible.
