Vol. 503 No. 3
102 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Finance the reason the announcement of urban renewal designation was delayed; when he will announce the commercial designations; the discussions, if any, he has had with the EU Commission regarding this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6159/99]
The new urban renewal designations were announced by the Minister of State with responsibility for housing and urban renewal, Deputy Molloy, on 17 February 1999. The urban renewal scheme is comprised of incentives for both commercial and residential development. As the commercial incentives are subject to EU approval. the Government decided to introduce the scheme in two stages. The residential tax incentives were introduced with effect from 1 March 1999. I will not be in a position to announce the introduction of the business elements of the scheme until EU approval is received.
The latest position regarding the approval of the scheme is that the EU Commission has recently written to my Department with further queries arising from our response to their previous letter seeking additional information. The reply to them is currently being prepared. I would stress that this is part of the normal process associated with obtaining EU approval and that the procedure may take some time to complete. Any final decision made by the Commission in this context will be announced at the appropriate time.
