I propose to take Questions Nos. 228 to 231, inclusive, and 233 and 234 together.
Decisions on disbursement of funds from dormant accounts moneys are currently a matter for the dormant accounts disbursement board. This is an independent body established under the Dormant Accounts Acts. To date, a sum of €26 million has been reclaimed under the terms of the fund. A second transfer of funds from credit institutions, together with the first transfer of moneys from life assurance policies, will take place at the end of April 2004. At this stage, however, I do not have an accurate estimate as to the likely yield from these sources in 2004 and this information will only become clearer at the end of April.
The board is deciding on the disbursement of funds up to €30 million. To date, it has approved 18 projects for funding totalling approximately €1.7 million. Approximately 290 applications have been received to date and they are being assessed on an ongoing basis by ADM on behalf of the board. The Government has not and will not be involved in decisions on such applications.
In December 2003, the Government reviewed arrangements in relation to dormant accounts. This was informed by three practical considerations, namely, the organisational arrangements for the board, which involve a handful of seconded civil servants in a secretariat role, are not designed to support disbursements on the scale now emerging; governance arrangements including the legal requirement that a part time chairman should be accountable for hundreds of millions of euro, are inadequate; and to ensure value for money, spend from the fund must be co-ordinated with priorities identified by Government and debated in this House.
The Government decided that the objectives of the disbursements scheme would remain unchanged, that is, funding to assist programmes or projects targeting three broad categories of persons — those affected by economic and social disadvantage; those affected by educational disadvantage, and persons with a disability. The Government also decided that it would make decisions on disbursements and that such decisions would be taken following a transparent application and evaluation process. Also, appropriate arrangements would be put in place so that spending from the dormant accounts fund is clearly separate to Estimates provision.
It should also be noted that key roles in relation to advising, monitoring and planning in the area of dormant accounts have been given to the disbursement board, with particular regard to the following: advising on priority areas to be considered annually for funding; preparation of the disbursement plan; and reviewing, evaluating, and reporting on the effectiveness, additionality and impact of disbursements. Draft legislation is to be brought forward this year with a view to giving effect to these decisions.
In relation to Tiermohan national school community support group, I understand that no application from that organisation has been received to date. If this group wishes to apply, it should do so through ADM and its application will be assessed against the criteria as set out in the published guidelines.