Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 2 Jun 1993

Vol. 431 No. 7

Adjournment Debate. - North West Region Structural Funding.

Mr. Leonard

Thank you for this opportunity. I am concerned about the allocation for roads and forestry in counties Cavan and Monaghan. I have no doubt that the Minister will come up with figures to show that the operational programme has been very successful, as it has been in some areas. It is like the curates egg, good in parts. In some areas which I will outline there were defects. The five counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan have a heavily funded programme but out of 4,100 hectares planted, only .5 per cent is in County Monaghan and about 5 per cent in County Cavan, despite the fact that those areas are supposed to have the best quality land for fast growing softwood timber. This land has a 40 per cent better growth rate than other parts of the country. The growth rate is two to three times faster than in any other EC country.

When the figures came out I was disturbed and wrote to Coillte Teoranta. They replied pointing out that, nationally, only 7 per cent of our land is afforested and the area that I mentioned comprised only 3 per cent. It cannot be related to the outturn on this occasion.

This is one of the areas designated for alternative farm enterprises. The regional structure was set up to identify the areas for development and to provide the infrastructure so that the development could be carried out. It very clearly identified this area for forestry development. What concerns me is that the 1994-1997 submission refers to land which is unsuitable for traditional farming but may be suitable for afforestation at a potential profit. It states that the development of the forestry industry will contribute to a number of overall sub-regional objectives, particularly job creation.

In that area there has been a substantial reduction in the number of people employed in afforestation. While those five countries which I mentioned are part of the north-west sub-regional, Coillte Teoranta have other regions. They have a Sligo region which covers Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal and a Mullingar region which covers Cavan and Monaghan. The Department which is responsible for afforestation, has split the area into two regions, which is not at all satisfactory. There is land available for afforestation. The soil is excellent for timber, and this development is disgracefully small in an area where there are very few alternative farm enterprises. This seems to be the ideal alternative farm enterprise.

I also mentioned the allocation for roads. Because they were highly afforested, Counties Louth, Donegal and Leitrim got £452,000 under a previous programme from the second phase of the Border fund, while the other counties that I mentioned got about £31,000 or £32,000. Those counties lost out in both ways.

Another very important point relate to pollution control with regard to waste mushroom compost.

Coillte Teoranta have 12 parks. Ten years ago we made a submission to Coillte Teoranta for a £20,000 development in one park, for a children's amenity play area. Up to now we have not heard from Coillte Teoranta. There is a serious imbalance. I would ask the Minister to rectify this in the present submission.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Ms E. Fitzgerald)

As the Deputy will appreciate, planning the optimum use of Structural Fund spending for the period post-1993 has to be done in advance of the completion of the 1989-93 plan. It is evident however that the north-west region benefited greatly from the 1989-93 Community Support Framework, particularly in areas of greater relevance to it. For example, expenditure on Continuation of Regulation 1820/80, both actual and projected was 28.2 per cent of the national figure, and expenditure on objective 5 (a) measures, tourism (public works), environmentally friendly farming, forestry, and sanitary services, were 26.2 per cent, 22.4 per cent, 21.6 per cent, 16.9 per cent, 15.0 per cent respectively. In fact, the expenditure per head in the north-west region has been the highest of all regions of the country in the last round of Structural Funds.

As part of the process of preparing the National Development Plan to cover the post-1993 period at sub-regional level, consultants were engaged to carry out an evaluation of the implementation of the present Community Support Framework in terms of its effectiveness in contributing to Ireland's economic development, and in the light of this evaluation to make recommendations for the elements and the balance of these elements in a community support framework for the period 1993 to 1999 which would make the greatest contribution to Ireland's growth and employment objectives and to productive investment in Ireland. The consultants report has been received and is being considered along with the various other submissions made.

The Minister for Finance asked the sub-regional review committees for their views on the post-1993 situation. The north-west committee submitted a detailed report in October 1992, which, among other things, set out its views on priorities for expenditure under the 1994-99 Community Support Framework and the Cohesion Fund. The priorities set out in the report have been valuable in assisting in the preparation of the national plan. I met with the North-West Regional Review Committee.

The detailed points made by Deputy Leonard in relation to Coillte Teoranta are ones I am not in a position to answer, but I will take them up on his behalf with the Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

In relation to expenditure on roads, we can expect in the next round of the plan a greater emphasis on local roads than we saw in the last round. I hope that County Monaghan and County Cavan will benefit from that as well as other counties with particular needs.

Work on the plan is well advanced and decisions will be made shortly on the allocation of resources under it. The demands for resources far exceed what is available and difficult choices will have to be made by the Government. It is important to bring a sense of realism into this process. Demands on my table total £28 billion and we cannot satisfy everybody in terms of those kinds of demands. In advance of finer decisions being made, the Deputy will appreciate I cannot go into any more detail in relation to how the plan is shaping up.

In addition to the Community Support Framework, a number of Community initiatives have been of benefit to the north-west region, in particular INTERREG specifically addressed to the problems of Border regions.

While the Commission has yet to announce what Community initiatives will be proposed in the next round it seems certain that there will be a further INTERREG programme. The Department of Finance in Dublin and the Department of Finance and Personnel in Belfast in Northern Ireland have engaged consultants to carry out an evaluation of the present INTERREG programme and to make recommendations on a successor programme.

The Deputy may be assured that the particular problems of the north-west region will continue to receive due attention under the 1994-99 CSF. I have noted in particular the points he made in relation to forestry and county roads.