Vol. 471 No. 1
24 Mr. R. Burke asked the Minister for Finance the circumstances surrounding the £78 million cut in EU financial support for the Northern Ireland peace process which occurred during the Irish tenure of the Presidency of the EU. [20053/96]
49 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the widespread concern at the decision of the European Parliament Budget Committee to reduce the peace and reconciliation funding from £125 million to £47 million; and his views on whether the arrangements made for the distribution of the funding by his Department led to any delays contributing to the current serious situation. [18644/96]
54 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Finance the action, if any, he will take to ensure that funding for the EU's Peace and Reconciliation Programme is not reduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18633/96]
61 Mr. R. Burke asked the Minister for Finance his views on the decision of the European Parliament Budget Committee to reduce the amount allocated to the EU special peace and reconciliation fund for Northern Ireland. [18634/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 24, 49, 54 and 61 together.
The European Parliament's Committee on Budgets on 9 October voted on a recommendation to the Parliament to reduce commitment appropriations for the Peace and Reconciliation Programme by 100 MECU.
On 21 October the Committee on Budgets put forward a further proposal to include 100 MECU for the Peace Programme in a reserve in the 1997 draft budget. The European Parliament adopted this approach on 24 October. This is part of the ongoing budgetary procedure in respect of the 1997 EU budget.
