Vol. 526 No. 1
182 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Finance if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 367 of 7 November 2000, he will give a detailed response on his intention to extend the closing date to take account of the long delay in securing approval. [25917/00]
The Deputy will be aware that my Department formally notified the European Commission of the business elements of the new town renewal scheme on 19 July 2000 around the same time as the specific towns selected for the scheme were announced by the Minister of State at the Environment and Local Government. The Commission responded on 6 September 2000 with a request for additional information. The matter was discussed in detail at recent meetings with the Commission and a reply is currently being prepared. As things stand at present, it appears that it will take some more months before the business tax incentives elements of the scheme will be approved by the Commission. Such a delay is normal where Commission approval is concerned. As the scheme provides for eligible capital expenditure to be incurred on qualifying works up to the 31 March 2003, I do not believe an extension to this deadline is necessary in the present circumstances.
