Mary Harney
Ceist:33 Miss Harney asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the preparations being made by his Department for a Conference on Local Development as part of Ireland's Presidency of the EU. [16482/96]
Written Answers. - Local Development.
The International Conference on Local Development, being organised by the Department of the Taoiseach, forms part of the Government's ongoing evaluation and exchange of experience about the evolution of local development activities in Ireland. It is a major element within Ireland's Presidency programme and will be held in Dublin Castle on 11 and 12 November 1996. It will highlight the significance of the local development approach to promoting economic development and tackling disadvantage and long-term unemployment.
The conference programme is currently being finalised in consultation with the European Commission. It is expected to focus on the Irish experience of implementing local development policies and the significant role of local partnership in social and economic development and the European implications of our experience — particularly in the light of the review of the European programme to tackle the unemployment issue — through territorial employment pacts, and new ways of working together.
Local initiatives such as local development have been given strong support by each European Council meeting since, and including, ESSEN. European interest in the conference is, therefore, very strong especially given Ireland's extensive experience in comparison with other EU member states.
The conference will be informed by the findings of the OECD study, launched in May 1996 —Ireland — Local Partnerships and Social Innovation, that confirmed the importance of the local development approach and stressed the need to ensure that the successes achieved are generalised and the lessons learned are applied as widely as possible across the board.
The conference programme will provide for exchanges, within workshops, on appropriate themes in the local development process, including experiences in enterprise creation and small business development; local strategies to counter unemployment; integrated approaches to meeting the needs of the unemployed in the local economy; strategies for mobilising social partners and local authorities; strategic approaches for comprehensive rural renewal and experiences of physical, economic and social renewal in a local development perspective.
The organisational arrangements for the programme are well in hand. The expected attendance of 300 people will include European Commissioners, EU Ministers, MEPs, chairpersons of the relevant Dáil committees, representatives of various groups involved in local development, non-governmental organisations and relevant academics.
Bertie Ahern
Ceist:34 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on the criticisms of the spending on local development grants under Subhead F.1 in the Estimates of his Department in 1995 in the Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. [17662/96]
One of the main statutory functions of the Comptroller and Auditor General is to audit the Government accounts for accuracy and regularity. An audit of this nature can also highlight any weaknesses in procedures, and the findings can be particularly helpful to Departments when implementing new schemes — such as the local development grants scheme, which was introduced for the first time in 1995.
There is no question, in the report, of any misappropriation of funds but rather that the administrative arrangements approved for the scheme were not followed as strictly as they might have been. A number of critical comments were made in the report: documentary evidence was not available, on each individual project file, of the analysis carried out of the projects. However, the report records the Department's response that meetings were held and other contacts made to establish compliance with the criteria. Other Departments were consulted in every case to ensure that there was no duplication of funding, in particular under the local development programme.
The report notes that tax clearance certificates were not obtained prior to payments being made. However, each organisation signed an undertaking agreeing to adhere to the tax requirements and to fulfil all the accounting requirements of the Department. At this stage, only two certificates are outstanding; one group is awaiting a decision on its application for charitable status and the second group has agreed to produce its certificate without further delay.
The report notes that grants were paid to a number of projects for work which had not commenced by end 1995. However, the Department took the view that these voluntary organisations required a seed funding approach. The grants were paid on the basis that there was a reasonable expectation that this would enable a useful project to go ahead or be completed. Department of Finance sanction was obtained for the individual grant payments in mid-December 1995.
Regular contact with the grantees, in an effort to assist in bringing the projects to fruition, is being maintained. It will be appreciated that all of the groups are voluntary in character and in many cases for the first time, they are facing the challenges of completing significant financial packages and of securing planning approval for large construction projects. These projects are complementary to the overall local development programmes, one of the cornerstones of the Government's policies in tackling the problems caused by disadvantage and exclusion. While some of the completion dates are slower than we hoped for the Department will continue to work with the grantees to ensure that the projects are completed.
The accounting officer will appear, in due course, before the Committee of Public Accounts — as is standard practice.
The administration of the 1996 local development grant scheme complies fully with all the relevant procedural points raised in the report.