Vol. 530 No. 6
308 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the schemes available through his Department and agencies under the aegis of his Department for tourism; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4803/01]
My Department provides grants for local authorities and the National Roads Authority for a range of infrastructural programmes. The needs of all sectors of the economy, including tourism, are taken into account in this context.
Aspects of the following programmes, administered centrally by my Department, have a more specific tourism related focus. Over £323 million is being provided for expenditure on non-national roads in 2001. The improvements to which this expenditure will give rise will benefit road users generally.
Each autumn, my Department seeks applications from local authorities for projects to be funded under the EU co-financed specific improvement grants scheme. Various categories of works are eligible under this scheme and one such category is the improvement of designated tourist routes, roads, including scenic routes, within tourism areas and roads providing access to tourism areas. In 2001 £53.6 million has been allocated to local authorities under this overall grant category of which £16.25 million, or about 30% of the available funding, relates to tourism projects.
The national development plan provides for a continuation of investment in urban and village renewal for the next seven years. The aim of the urban and village renewal measure is to upgrade city, town and village locations to make them more attractive places in which to live and work, to encourage social and economic development and to facilitate and support the development of tourism and tourism related activity. Over the seven year period of the plan investment of £103 million will be made in urban and village renewal projects.
My Department organises and provides financial support for a number of national and inter-national competitions designed to encourage local communities to maintain and improve the physical, environmental and cultural fabric of the areas in which they live. The competitions are Tidy Towns, Ireland's Best Kept Town, a North-South competition attracting the most successful entrants in the Tidy Towns competition and Northern Ireland's Best Kept Town competition, Entente Florale, a competition established by an international European committee which promotes the planted environment in European towns and villages.
While directed primarily at creating a more pleasant environment for local communities, these competitions also enhance the attractiveness of towns to tourists.
