Willie Penrose
Ceist:94 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Finance the steps, if any, he is taking to ensure that the Objective 1 status is retained for rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19474/97]
Written Answers. - Objective 1 Status.
Gay Mitchell
Ceist:116 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Finance the Government's view on the idea of sub-dividing the country for future EU funding purposes in the context of Agenda 2000 proposals and recent comments by Commissioner Wulf-Mathies. [22492/97]
Enda Kenny
Ceist:123 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Finance the Government's strategy to retain Objective 1 Status for Ireland in the forthcoming negotiations on the future of the EU. [1803/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 94, 116 and 123 together.
As Deputies will be aware, Ireland qualified as an Objective 1 region in the present round of Structural Funding by virtue of the fact that, as a single region under the European System of Regional Classification, our per-capita GDP was below 75 per cent of the Community average. The recent growth we have enjoyed in per-capita income means that, as we prepare for the next round, this is no longer the case.
In its Agenda 2000 proposals, the European Commission has proposed that transitional arrangements be put in place for regions which no longer meet the eligibility threshold for Objective 1 funding. The Government is aiming to negotiate a transition package which will ensure continued access to the Objective 1 funding envelope, albeit on a diminishing scale, during the next financing round for the whole country.
The Government is also acutely conscious of the needs of the less-developed parts of the country and of their commitments to those areas in the Government's programme, An Action Plan for the Millennium. In this context the Government will consider the position of those regions of Ireland which may still be below the 75 per cent criterion. This consideration will have to take account of the fact that any change in the country's single region status would have to be approved by the Commission and of the overriding objective of maximising Structural Fund transfers to Ireland as a whole under the next round.