Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 352: To ask the Minister for Finance if public funds have been provided through the cross-Border INTERREG funding programme to support the activities of a group (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34621/04]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The INTERREG IIIA, Ireland-Northern Ireland programme, is managed by the special EU programmes body, SEUPB, one of six North-South implementation bodies set up under strand II of the Good Friday Agreement. The SEUPB has informed me that the group in question was part of a consortium that applied for funding under the INTERREG IIIA Ireland-Northern Ireland programme on 22 January 2004 under priority 1.1 business and economic development.

This application was approved for grant assistance of €308,682 out of a total project cost of €661,414 on 30 March 2004 by the Ireland-Northern Ireland INTERREG steering committee, subject to a successful economic appraisal. The steering committee is responsible for formally determining which applications are to receive offers of assistance under the programme. The economic appraisal found the project to be compliant with both national and EU regulations.