Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 20 Jun 1996

Vol. 467 No. 3

Written Answers. - EU Peace Initiative Fund.

Rory O'Hanlon

Ceist:

19 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Social Welfare the amount of money allocated to date for his Department under the EU peace initiative fund; the projects that have benefited from such funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11904/96]

Minister for Social Welfare (Proinsias De Rossa)

I would, firstly, refer the Deputy to the answer I gave to a similar question asked by him (Question No. 250) on Tuesday, 21 May 1996. The Combat Poverty Agency (CPA), a statutory agency under the aegis of my Department, has in co-operation with Area Development Management Ltd. (ADM), responsibility for three measures under the Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation.

The amount of money allocated under the Department of Social Welfare, administered through the Combat Poverty Agency is approximately £13 million, counting both Exchequer and EU funds, over the initial funding period for the programme (up to end 1997). The funding is allocated under the following measures: Measure 3.4 — Cross-Border Community Reconciliation; Measure 4.1 — Developing Grass Roots Capacity and Promoting the Inclusion of Women; and Measure 4.4 — Promoting the Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups.

It should be noted that the CPA is managing its part of the Programme jointly with ADM, taking on board a total of 12 measures under the special support programme and totalling approximately £33 million. I have been informed by the joint CPA/ADM Office in Monaghan that a figure of the order of £1 million will have been agreed in the form of grants to projects by the end of this week. The Combat Poverty Agency's contribution to this will be roughly half the total figure.

It is a condition of the agreement between the CPA and ADM and the European Commission that projects seeking funding will be evaluated and awarded funding, where appropriate, independently of any involvement by Government Departments. For this reason, while my Department has been involved in the policy and planning stages of the programme's development and while it continues to be involved in an advisory capacity and supporting role, it has no responsibility for awarding funding to specific projects under the Programme and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment on such awards, particularly since, as I understand it, a public announcement in relation to the funding of projects under the programme will be made shortly.