The purpose of this Supplementary Estimate is to provide for the funding of technical assistance for the two regional operational programmes in the national development plan and the community support framework.
The establishment orders for the regional authorities and regional assemblies provide that the Minister for Finance may recoup to the authorities and assemblies, costs related to the carrying out of their EU functions. In the 1994-99 programming period, expenditure on the regional authority EU operational committees and related costs were recouped on a quarterly basis by the Department of Finance. These costs were paid from the community support framework technical assistance operational programme and were charged to subhead L of the vote of the Department of Finance.
In the negotiations earlier this year on the Community Support Framework 2000 – 2006, my Department proposed to the European Commission that the recoupment of the EU costs of the newly created regional assemblies should be provided for on a similar basis to that which operated for the regional authorities in the 1994-99 period, that is, from CSF technical assistance. The European Commission, while accepting the principle that the EU costs of the regional assemblies and the existing regional authorities should be funded from technical assistance, expressed a preference for such costs to be met from a separate technical assistance budget within each of the regional operational programmes. We agreed to this Commission proposal.
Accordingly, to give effect to the new arrangement and to introduce greater transparency from a financial accounting perspective, I propose in this Supplementary Estimate to create a new subhead within the Department of Finance Vote for funding technical assistance in regional operational programmes. This will cover costs in relation to monitoring, information and publicity and the mid-term evaluation of the regional operational programmes, and the eligible costs of the EU operational committees of the regional authorities in the S&E and BMW regions.
On the basis of previous annual expenditure and claims so far this year by the regional authorities, as well as the expenditure arising in connection with the monitoring of the regional operational programmes, the regional assemblies estimates for technical assistance costs in 2000 is £280,000 rising to £560,000 in 2001.
Since it is expected that there will be sufficient savings elsewhere in the Vote for my Department to meet the expenditure arising this year, I propose at this stage to seek the approval of the Dáil for a token Supplementary Estimate of £1,000 and to arrange for expenditure from the subhead to be met from the savings arising.
The gross amount will be provided in the Vote and will be advanced to the regional assemblies quarterly, on the basis of returns of the previous quarter's expenditure and estimates for the following quarter. The expenditure will be co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund at an aid rate of 75% and 50% in the Border, midlands and west, and southern and eastern regions respectively.
The other costs of the regional assemblies will be funded directly by the constituent local authorities in proportion to their respective populations.
I use this opportunity to pay tribute to the excellent work done by the assemblies since their establishment over one year ago. The assemblies, in their role as managing authority for the two regional operational programmes, have participated in the negotiation and agreement with the European Commission of the Community Support Framework for Ireland. They have subsequently been directly engaged, assisted by my Department, in negotiating the regional operational programmes with the European Commission. I am pleased to report that the two regional operational programmes will be formally signed by Commissioner Barnier in Brussels in the presence of regional assembly representatives next Monday.
In recent weeks the regional assemblies have also concluded the preparations for and secured the approval of their operational programme monitoring committee to the programme complements for the regional operational programmes. The programme complements set out at measure level the detailed operational arrangements, including project selection criteria. This rate of progress in the relatively short period since their establishment is testimony to the good co-operation which has been developed between the regional assemblies and central Departments and State bodies and augurs well for the future.
I take this opportunity to briefly refute some misleading commentary on progress under the national development plan made in the wake of the publication of the Estimates for 2001 last week. Certain commentators equated the relatively small level of savings anticipated in the 2000 public capital programme with lack of progress on the infrastructural programme in the national development plan. This is an incorrect deduction. In key national development plan infrastructural areas such as roads, public transport and environmental services, 2000 expenditure is generally in line with the targets when the national development plan was published one year ago. Expenditure is behind plan profile in some areas of the production sector operational programme such as research and development and industrial promotion grants. These underspends in 2000 will not undermine the achievement of the national development plan objectives in the areas in question. The reality is that national development plan infrastructural expenditure is generally on track and the 2001 Estimates provisions will ensure the momentum is maintained.