Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 February 2006
227 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Finance the way in which the money under PEACE I, PEACE II and INTERREG III programmes was allocated in the past three years; the percentage of available moneys that was spent on consultants and agencies advising the way in which the money would be allocated. [7816/06]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere have been two PEACE programmes, PEACE I from 1994-99 and PEACE II from 2000-06. The value of the PEACE I programme to the Border region was €100 million. Of this, 3% or €3 million, was spent on technical assistance — monitoring and evaluation — of the programme. A total of 75% of funds allocated to technical assistance came from the EU while the remaining 25% was funded from the Exchequer. None of this was spent in the past three years.
The value of the PEACE II programme is €868 million. Of this, 9.5% or €83 million is provided as technical assistance to monitor and evaluate projects since 2000. This is an EU requirement and is necessary to ensure that projects are of a high standard and provide value for money. To ensure equity and transparency in both the PEACE and INTERREG Ireland-Northern Ireland programmes, projects valued over €367,000 must be assessed by independent economic consultants. Between 2003 and 2006 approximately €40 million or 4% of the total value of the programme has been spent on monitoring and evaluation North and South.
The INTERREG IIIA Ireland-Northern Ireland programme aims to address the economic and social disadvantage that can result from the existence of a border. The total value of the programme is €182 million in the 2000-06 period. A sum of €11 million or 6% of this is provided in technical assistance in the 2000-06 period. The EU requires that this proportion of funds is used to assess and monitor the standard of projects. Approximately €4.2 million has been spent in the past three years, which is 2.3% of the total programme.
Ireland also participates in four other INTERREG III programmes. The INTERREG IIIA Ireland-Wales cross-Border programme is worth €70 million. The share of total payments for the programme that was spent on technical assistance during this period was 1.6%. The INTERREG IIIB north-west Europe transnational programme includes Ireland, the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, northern France, parts of Germany and the Netherlands and some Swiss cantons. The programme is worth €656 million in total. Details relating to payments to Irish projects are currently being compiled and will be passed on to the Deputy as soon as this work has been completed.
The INTERREG IIIB Atlantic area transnational programme comprises Ireland, Portugal, the western half of the UK and France and large areas of Spain. The programme is worth €204 million. The share of total payments for the programme that was spent on technical assistance during this period was 4.8%. The INTERREG IIIC inter-regional programme covers the whole EU territory over four geographic zones, namely, north, south, east and west. The share of total payments for the programme that was spent on technical assistance during this period was 18%.
