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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 9 Oct 2003

Vol. 572 No. 2

Written Answers. - Community Enterprise Programme.

Sean Fleming

Ceist:

91 Mr. Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the specific reasons the application in respect of Portarlington was not included in the list of projects to be supported by her Department as announced in its recent statement on community enterprise centre initiatives. [22723/03]

Sean Fleming

Ceist:

92 Mr. Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the specific reasons the application in respect of Abbeyleix was not included in the list of projects to be supported by her Department as announced in its recent statement on community enterprise centre initiatives. [22724/03]

Sean Fleming

Ceist:

93 Mr. Fleming asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the specific reasons the application in respect of Portlaoise was not included in the list of projects to be supported by her Department as announced in its recent statement on community enterprise centre initiatives. [22725/03]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 to 93, inclusive, together.

The decision to support projects under the Community Enterprise Programme 2002 Initiative is a day-to-day operational issue for Enterprise Ireland and not one in which I have a direct function.

However, I have been informed by Enterprise Ireland that there was an enormous response to the second call for proposals under the Community Enterprise Programme 2002 Initiative (CEC 2002) which is administered by the agency. The level of funding sought stood at €17.24 million, six times greater than that which was available for approval (€2.84 million). This resulted in an intensely competitive situation that resulted in more communities being disappointed than those who were supported.

A two-tier evaluation system was established. The first tier involved a specially formed evaluation committee that included representatives from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Shannon Development, the county enterprise boards, third level education, and Enterprise Ireland. This committee met over a two-day period and, in addition to reviewing each proposal, considered inputs from both Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development regional representatives. The evaluation committee rated each application under a number of criteria including the level of need in the area, the ability of the team concerned to implement the project and the financial strength of the project. The committee rated and scored each project and in this way was able to approve 15 capital applications before the amount of funding available became exhausted. The committee also recommended that feasibility support totalling €19,472 be awarded to two community groups, and management support to the sum of €109,000 be awarded to three further groups.

The recommendations of the evaluation committee were then presented to the investment committee of Enterprise Ireland, which further considered the material before reaching a final decision. That decision endorsed the recommendation of the evaluation committee by agreeing that the 15 capital projects put forward for consideration were, in a highly competitive context, the 15 best such projects, along with the five projects being approved for non-capital support.

A number of projects were highly regarded by both committees but, unfortunately in the context outlined above, did not score highly enough to be approved.

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