Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 7 Jun 2000

Vol. 520 No. 4

Written Answers. - EU Funding.

Eamon Gilmore

Ceist:

40 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation when he expects to receive final details of the guidelines for URBAN II from the EU Commission; when it is expected that the areas to be funded will be selected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15913/00]

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation (Dr. McDaid):

The European Commission has adopted the guidelines for the new URBAN initiative, to be known as URBAN II, for the period 2000-06. The guidelines for URBAN II, 2000-06, were published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 19 May 2000 when member states were invited to present proposals for URBAN II programmes, before mid-November, 2000.

In Ireland, one urban area with a population of at least 20,000 will be the subject of support for which five million euros/IR£3.9 million has been allocated from EU funds.

The Irish Government will provide the matching Exchequer funds, from the Vote of my Department, and depending on whether the area selected is in the BMW region or the S and E region, which has implications in terms of the aid rates of co-financed expenditure, the maximum package for URBAN II in Ireland will be £7.8 million.

My Department has commenced examination of the various options available to us in terms of the identification, in consultation with relevant agencies, of potential candidate investment areas. This will be followed by the selection of the most appropriate site, in accordance with the criteria laid down in the Commission guidelines for URBAN II.