Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the Minister and his officials. I am trying to get my head around the status of PEACE IV, the Special European Union Programmes Body, SEUPB, and INTERREG. There are concerns about the future status of projects in the pipeline.

We will have the North's Minister of Finance here later. Will the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, give us his political perspective on where PEACE IV and INTERREG stand? Approximately €550 million from Europe is allocated in this regard. Many people in the Border areas have an expectation around that matter and there is some question mark over it. What is the Minister's perspective on it, particularly in light of the deadline on these projects coming in November vis-à-visthe Treasury? Do we know the Treasury's position? Has that position hardened with regard to commitments there? These projects have serious implications for people.