Vol. 441 No. 1
15 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the allocation under the National Development Plan, 1994-99, as originally drafted for areas for which he has responsibility following the overall cut of 8.5 per cent announced by the Government on 3 March 1994; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Os rud é go bhfuil idirbheartaíocht le Coimisiún na hEorpa fós ar siúl, ní féidir figiúr iomlán cruinn a lua mar fhreagra ar an gceist seo. Tá an cosúlacht ar an scéal, áfach, gur suim de bhreis ar £220 milliún a bheidh ar fáil faoin bPlean Forbartha Náisiúnta 1994-99 do thograí a thagann faoi scáth mo Roinne-se i gcomparáid le suim £240 milliún a bhí i gceist ar dtús.
The Minister said there would be a cut of approximately £20 million. How will this be applied in his Department? I note in the National Development Plan it was proposed to spend £40 million in Gaeltacht areas. What proportion of that will not be spent? In addition £139 million was to have been spent by his Department on cultural tourism — £100 million of that would have been spent by the Office of Public Works with the balance being spent on various projects. How will the axe be used on these projects?
It is not a matter of the axe being applied to these projects. Talks on the national plan between the Government and the Commission have not concluded. There will be discussions between my Department and other Departments on certain aspects of the operational programme and further discussions will then be held within my Department. I have used the opportunity to prioritise a number of projects and particularly their likely outturn in relation to job creation. Initially the figure quoted for cultural institutions and agencies was £44 million; films, £16 million; waterways, £25 million; national parks and nature reserves, £14 million; Údarás na Gaeltachta, £77 million; local authority support for cultural projects, £27 million; Gaeltacht marine works, £8 million; and national monuments and historic properties, £29 million, giving a total of £240 million for the general area for which I have responsibility. Those who will benefit from this very significant expenditure will be more interested in the £220 million which will be spent rather than any downward adjustment of £20 million. The figure may not be adjusted by that amount as I may be able to make other arrangements. It is not correct to talk about any project being axed or abandoned at this stage but rather to say that the funding is being reorganised.
The figures in the green book are either real or they are figments of the imagination. If they are real they must be based on specific projects which were earmarked for assistance from the expected £8 billion. Some of those projects will either be cut back or eliminated and I want to know how the axe will be applied. What projects will be cut or eliminated?
The figures in the national plan were published on the basis of assumptions made on the level of European funding and the national contribution. If the figures are adjusted downwards it will be on the basis of priority under the different headings I described. That exercise has not been completed but it is one which I would have undertaken anyway. The £240 million represents a contribution across several different operational programmes which could be combined in different ways. I will be delighted to give the Deputy further details when the exercise has been completed. Meanwhile I would ask him to encourage the public to be positive about the expenditure of more than £220 million rather than wasting energy finding where a hypothetical cut of £20 million might be located.
If the cuts are hypothetical then the figures in the book are hypothetical. They were not real in the first place. If the figures are real there will be cuts. It states that £100 million of the expected £240 million——
Fairy tales of Ireland.
——was to go to the Office of Public Works for capital works. Is that to be cut?
Taking the most extreme view I would envisage a cut of £20 million out of £240 million. The discussions have not been completed and the ordering of Office of Public Works projects will form part of the priority exercise in which I am engaged. I am looking at different options, for example, adjusting timescales. That is the responsible way to deal with the matter rather than spread misery around the country.
They do it with mirrors.
The Deputy would know about mirrors.
