Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 366: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount of EU funding received by his Department directly or for institutions, groups, organisations or bodies under his aegis in the past 20 years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47246/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, in the time available, it has been difficult to research all aspects of funding received by my Department over such a long period.

However, following a detailed examination of the Department's records, I understand that the only direct EU funding received by my Department was the EU Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (Peace I), which was targeted at Northern Ireland and the six border counties in the South. This programme ran from 1995 to end-December 2001, with continued funding being drawn down to the end of 2005.

This Department had responsibility for two measures under the sub-programme of Peace I which dealt with cross border development. The first of these two measures was entitled Measure 3.3 on Cross-Border co-operation between Public Bodies and had an expenditure of approximately €11 million. The second was entitled Measure 3.1 on Cross-Border Business and Cultural Linkages and had an expenditure of €12 million. The latter measure was implemented by an intermediary agency, Co-Operation Ireland, under the supervision of this Department.