Mr. Pat Colgan:

It is always a pleasure to report to and work with this committee. I will make some introductory remarks before opening the floor to discussion. Members will have received two briefing papers, from us and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, respectively. I understand the emphasis of this meeting is the PEACE IV programme, although I am happy to refer to the INTERREG programme and take questions on that subject.

We have been preparing a new PEACE programme since April 2012, when we received formal notification from the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government that we should begin the process of preparation. These programmes are being prepared in the context of EU cohesion policy regulations, which are still in draft format. We anticipate that they will be approved before the end of the year, probably in October or November. That is an important dimension in terms of being able formally to finalise the programmes.

It is good to note that Article 6 of the draft European territorial co-operation regulation makes specific reference to provision for a PEACE IV programme. The article specifically mentions that it should address issues of social inclusion, social cohesion and combating poverty in the region, and that it should continue to address the issues facing society in Northern Ireland and the Border counties as a result of the conflict. In line with that reference, a budgetary provision of €150 million was made in the multi-annual financial framework for a new PEACE programme. That money comes from the European Regional Development Fund, ERDF. In addition, on 14 June 2013, the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive made a commitment to allocate a further €50 million from the UK's ERDF allocation to the programme. That money comes from the broader European territorial co-operation allocation funding for the UK. It will be added to the other €150 million to create a fund of €200 million for the new PEACE IV programme. A statement was made at the time of the declaration that the Northern Ireland Executive and the UK Government would like this money to be used in areas they referred to as a united youth programme. This statement was made in the context of the Building United Communities paper, which was published by the First Minister and deputy First Minister and sets out certain targets on similar issues to those we have been dealing with under the current PEACE programme.

It is important to note that changes may occur in the intervention rates. The draft regulations make provision in the new programme period of 2014 to 2020 for changing the intervention rate from 75%, as it stands at present, to 85%. This means we could award grants of ERDF money for up to 85% of the cost of projects, which projects would need to find 15% instead of 25% funding. To date, projects have been receiving 100% funding, with 25% coming from relevant Departments in each sector. However, with an 85% allocation rate, it is conceivable that some projects may bring forward their own matching funding, including funding in kind in some cases. This new theme also has implications for the final size of the budget for the programme.

We are required as part of the programme preparation process to carry out certain formal evaluations. We carry out an ongoing ex ante evaluation process, which involves formal monitoring of the programme preparation process to ensure it complies with all the regulatory and legal requirements. We also carry out, as part of the process, a strategic environmental impact assessment of the programme, and we are also required to carry out an equality impact assessment. Those three assessments or evaluations are ongoing in parallel as part of the work we are doing in programme preparation.

Another important analysis that needs to be carried out in the programme preparation process is what we refer to as a socioeconomic analysis. This is a broad brush review of the socioeconomic situation in Northern Ireland and the Border counties and, in the case of INTERREG, western Scotland, and the key issues facing the communities and economies of these regions. A formal and comprehensive study was conducted by the economist unit in the Northern Ireland Department of Finance and Personnel and is available on our website. It provides an extremely important context for programme preparation in terms of identifying the key socioeconomic issues that need to be addressed.

We conducted an extensive consultation process in regard to the preparation of these programmes.

From August to November 2012, we organised approximately 20 events around the region that were attended by more than 1,000 participants. This demonstrated a large level of enthusiasm, interest and appetite for these programmes. Consultation covered both INTERREG and PEACE. We also invited written submissions from organisations to give us their opinions on what the programmes' focus should be and what lessons should be learned from the current programmes. We received 173 written applications, all of which we have published on our website. We have also published on our website a summary document of our consultations.

This consultation is an important part of informing us as to what the priorities for the new programmes should be. The consultees included Departments, State agencies, local authorities, political parties, the community and voluntary sector and the educational sector - the entire spectrum of society. There was an enthusiastic uptake of the invitation to consult with us.

The consultation process is fed into a formal monitoring system for the programme's development. In consultation with Irish Departments and the Northern Ireland Executive, we set up a programme development steering group. There is information on its membership in the committee's notes. It meets regularly to oversee the programme preparation process. It plays an important role for us in ensuring that the preparation process is in line with the priorities of Government policy and meets the issues raised in the consultation.

The strong themes emerging for the PEACE programme from the consultation process and society in general are: a heavy emphasis on the importance of concentrating on or addressing young people's issues, particularly in disadvantaged areas; an emphasis on issues of educational underachievement; issues of young people not in education, employment or training, NEETs; an emphasis on integrated education or shared education as an opportunity for breaking down societal barriers; and support and enthusiasm for continuing with the concept of creating shared spaces, as developed in the PEACE III programme. In this context, I refer the committee to the Peace Bridge, the Skainos project, which it visited in east Belfast, and similar projects, for example, Castle Saunderson.

The theme of civic leadership has emerged, particularly in terms of the role of local authorities' engagement with and leadership in communities. A further emerging theme is the importance of continuing to share the learning of the PEACE programmes from 1995 to 2023 on a broader scale throughout Europe and further afield.

This is probably enough by way of introduction. I am happy to take any questions or observations that members wish to make.