Vol. 529 No. 1
121 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the plans he has to respond to the request for technical, financial and other assistance made by the Chief Minister of Montserrat to enable these people to plan their recovery from the effects of a volcano which threatens their existence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2242/01]
Following the major volcanic eruption which led to the evacuation of the population of the British Territory of Montserrat in 1997, that country has been seeking to develop the relatively safe northern part of the island to make it suitable for the entire population. Over the past three years, the British Government has funded a massive development effort to achieve this objective with more than £75 million sterling having been spent to date. Apart from the basic needs of housing and sanitation, advances have also been made in restoring health and educational facilities. Current efforts are aimed primarily at the restoration of the country's economic infrastructure to enable those who fled the volcano and who have not yet returned to come back to sustainable livelihoods.
Last October, the Chief Minister of Montserrat, Mr. David S. Brandt, led a visiting delegation in Dublin which gave briefings on the current situation to officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs, IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the National Software Directorate and the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland. This itinerary reflects the focus of the Montserrat authorities on rebuilding the tourism sector and on attracting new industries in the e-commerce and information technology sectors to reinvigorate the economy and to create greater employment opportunities.
In November, a technical assistance proposal to carry out a study to support the development of the Montserrat tourism sector, which has in the past contributed between 20 and 36 per cent of the country's GDP, was received by the development co-operation division of the Department of Foreign Affairs. This was a direct follow-up to the Chief Minister's visit. In December, following examination of the proposal, a number of observations on its possible advancement were conveyed to the Montserrat authorities by my Department. The response of the Montserrat authorities to these observations is now awaited.
Consideration of the tourism study proposal is, therefore, ongoing. As such, it is one of the options for possible technical assistance to Montserrat which were discussed with the Chief Minister, Mr. Brandt, in a spirit of positive co-operation when he visited Dublin in October.
