Vol. 545 No. 4
211 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Finance the parts of the national development plan or the projects which have been put on hold or slowed down as a result of the downturn in the economy and the accompanying shortfall in incoming revenue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30690/01]
I refer the Deputy to my replies to Questions Nos. 25 and 33 on Wednesday, 28 November last, which set out the general position as regards implementation of the national development plan. The question of the scheduling of specific projects under the NDP is a matter for responsible individual Departments and implementing agencies taking account of NDP objectives and available resources. I understand that the Deputy has put down a separate question to individual Ministers in this regard.
The only elements of the plan for which my Department has direct responsibility is the technical assistance operational programme. There has been no slowdown in the implementation of this programme arising from the downturn in the economy. The commissioners have a policy of reviewing all elements of recruitment processes which will include, in this case, the pilot system for accepting applications by telephone.
