Vol. 461 No. 4
186 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade the headings under which grant aid is provided to the hotel industry; the amount of funding available under each category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3112/96]
The Operational Programme for Tourism 1994-99 is the principal source of EU grant aid for the tourism industry. Measure 5 of the product development sub-programme provides for specialist accommodation-related developments such as conference and leisure facilities and a selective hotel refurbishment scheme. Some £12 million has been provided for this measure for the duration of the programme and this is now largely committed. Hotels are also among the tourism operators who can bring forward proposals under the special interest holiday facilities measure, can avail of assistance towards marketing and can benefit from training programmes undertaken under the aegis of CERT. Further details on each of these measures and the amounts of grant funding available are set out in the Operational Programme, a copy of which is available in the Dáil Library.
