Dáil debates

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Other Questions

European Globalisation Adjustment Fund

3:00 pm

Photo of Ciarán CannonCiarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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My Department has submitted final reports to the European Commission in respect of the Dell, Waterford Crystal and SR Technics programmes co-funded by the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund or EGF. The Deputy should note that as yet, none of these programmes has been formally closed by the Commission and, as such, the amounts of the reimbursements cannot be finally determined.

However, this month, my Department has made an advance payment of an estimated reimbursement to the European Commission in respect of the SR Technics programme. This amounts to €4,066,320.64. which represents 90% of the value of the EGF portion of unused programme funds. Debit notes in respect of 90% of the value of the EGF portion of unused programme funds for the Dell and Waterford Crystal programmes, in the amount of €5,380,480.17 and €506,332.35 respectively, were received by the Department on 25 June and are being duly processed.

It should be noted that the design of the EGF process provides for the return of moneys, given the inherent difficulties in precisely estimating the level of provision that will be subsequently taken up. On the basis of figures available to date, this has been the experience of all EGF applicant countries. The three construction sub-sector EGF programmes only concluded on 9 June this year. The Department does not yet have total expenditures for these programmes, which have to be submitted with final reports to the European Commission by 9 December 2012. A full picture of reimbursements will only emerge after that date.

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Go raibh maith agat, a Aire Stáit. When I raised this issue in a Topical Issue debate last October, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn said, "I share with the Deputy my concerns about the maladministration of this set of programmes by the previous administration. I will be honest with the Deputy, it is not a satisfactory situation". I agree with the statement he made on that occasion.

While this Government cannot be held responsible for the mess that Fianna Fáil made of the Dell, Waterford Crystal or SR Technics programmes, it is responsible for the largest programme for redundant construction workers, as €55 million is available to retrain them. The redundant construction workers programme, which the Government has overseen for the past 15 months, is probably the worst organised scheme in the State. Workers who are eligible to benefit from the funds were not contacted until 19 December 2011, some ten months after the Government took office. Of the original 9,089 workers named in the application, only 337 have accessed any additional support via the EGF, as of the end of April 2012.

Photo of Michael KittMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Can the Deputy please frame a question?

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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What has the Minister of State done since admitting the existence of maladministration last October? Has he established who is responsible for the maladministration? Has he conducted any internal investigation, given that under the last three programmes at least €10 million has gone back to the European Commission? There are serious questions to be answered.

It is time for an independent investigation into the operation of these funding programmes to establish where the administrative and political responsibility lies, and to ensure that similar failures do not happen again. We know that there is another application pending.

Photo of Ciarán CannonCiarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I want to point out that the first application to be lodged by this Administration, and managed in its entirety from beginning to end, will be the TalkTalk application in Waterford. The Deputy seems somehow to conclude that it is the intention of the EGF process to expend all the money to which one can gain access. That is not, and never has been, the case in this or any other country.

EU statistics indicate that the average reimbursement is of the order of 46%. We are currently under that figure at 44.5%. Upon my appointment as Minister of State, I acknowledged that perhaps the performance of my Department in the past had not been stellar in this area. I immediately initiated a review of the EGF application process. We had extensive and ongoing discussions and meetings with worker representatives from the three entities mentioned by the Deputy. We learned a lot from that process, which was used when we prepared for and lodged the TalkTalk application. I am confident that the outcome of the process that has been undergone in interacting meaningfully with the workers in Waterford, trying to establish as best we can - although it is a very difficult thing to do - what their training and further education needs are, will be a far more positive one than we have experienced in the past.