Vol. 472 No. 5
90 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Marine if he will give details of all grants and financial assistance given to a company (details supplied) in County Donegal which is now a wholly Norwegian Government-owned business. [23588/96]
The company referred to by the Deputy is an Irish subsidiary of a company which is 51 per cent owned by the Norwegian Government. The company which has been in operation on the Fanad peninsula since the early 1980s, employs 150 people, with an annual wage bill of some £1.9 million.
Údarás na Gaeltachta advises that national and EU grant assistance totalling £2.445 million has been paid to the company since 1982 towards capital investment, training and research and development projects in respect of the company's aquaculture production. The company recently received approval in principle for grant aid of some £500,000 towards a proposed investment of £1.5 million in the construction of a new fish processing facility, the details of which are currently the subject of discussion with Údarás na Gaeltachta and the Department.
91 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Marine his views on whether it is appropriate, as a recipient of EU funds, to make grants available to a company which is wholly owned by the Government of a non-member state. [23589/96]
There is no reason an Irish subsidiary of a non-EU company in the marine area should not be considered eligible for grant assistance if all the relevant necessary criteria are met, as is the norm in other sectors in the Irish economy generally.
