Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 1

Written Answers - EU Structural Funds.

Andrew Boylan

Ceist:

86 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Finance the Government's approach to securing Objective I status for the Border region in the next round of Structural Funds, having regard to the NESC Report No. 102, Policy Distribution and Economic Development: Trends and Policy Implications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5395/98]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

Under the Structural Fund regulations 1994-99, Ireland qualifies for Objective 1 status as a single region under the European System of Regional Classification by virtue of the fact that per capita GDP for the entire country for the three years 1988, 1989, 1990 was less than 75 per cent of the European Union average. For the next round of European funding Ireland will no longer qualify for Objective 1 status as our recent economic growth has placed us above the eligibility threshold.

In Agenda 2000, the European Commission has proposed transitional arrangements for regions like Ireland which are currently eligible for Objective 1 status but which will have passed the eligibility criteria. Negotiations on the substance of the arrangements for Structural Funds in the next round are still very much at a preliminary stage. These negotiations are likely to persist right through this year and, almost certainly, into next year.

The negotiations in question will involve agreement with the European Commission and the Council of a satisfactory transitional regime to cover the situation in which Ireland as a whole can no longer expect to qualify as an Objective 1 region on the basis of having aper capita GDP below 75 per cent of the Community average.

Notwithstanding the increase in GDP, it is the Government's position that transition arrangements must ensure continued and generous access to the Objective 1 funding envelope during the next programming period, so as to meet the substantial backlogs in infrastructural and social development which continue to persist in Ireland and which are even, to a degree, accentuated by our recent economic success.

In this context, the Government is especially conscious of the needs of the less-developed parts of the country and those suffering from population decline and will do all in its power to ensure the needs of these areas are properly addressed, as promised in the Government's Programme, An Action Plan for the Millennium. The Government has welcomed the conclusions and recommendations made in the National Economic and Social Council's (NESC) report No. 102 entitledPopulation Distribution and Economic Development: Trends and Policy implications. Its comprehensive nature makes it a further key input to the formulation of policy and has been referred to relevant Ministers and Departments for their consideration in that context.