Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his views on recent remarks made by the Council of the West on the level of underspend in the BMW region under the NDP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16656/05]

Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 38: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the efforts he has made to address the widening economic gap between the BMW region and the rest of the country; the significant new initiatives he has taken to improve rural development in the region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16663/05]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 38 together.

I have noted the recent comments of the Council for the West concerning spending under the national development plan, NDP in the BMW region and share its concern regarding the underspend in the BMW region under the NDP.

It is estimated that €36 billion or some 90% of the profiled expenditure for the period of the NDP from January 2000 to the end of December 2004 has been incurred. The regional breakdown of this expenditure is €9.5 billion for the BMW tegion and €26.5 billion for the southern and eastern region representing 74% and 104% of profiled expenditure, respectively.

Table 1 sets out the regional breakdown of forecast expenditure in percentage terms for the operational programmes under the NDP for both regions for the period January 2000 to December 2004. These forecasts of expenditure were set in 2000 when the NDP was prepared.

The breakdown of actual expenditure incurred in percentage terms to December 2004 for each operational programme is set out in Table 2. These figures are provisional until approved by the NDP/CSF Monitoring Committee at its meeting in June 2005.

The economic and social infrastructure operational programme in the BMW region, the productive sector operational programme and the BMW regional programme have failed to date to achieve the forecast levels of expenditure.

Due to changes in the nature of the interventions supported by the productive sector operational programme, performance over the period of the NDP appears disappointing for this operational programme. However, the level of expenditure and its regional breakdown at the beginning of the NDP proved to be unrealistically high given the nature of industrial development in recent years.

Expenditure outturns show that infrastructural investment to date in the BMW region is behind the indicative target set out in the NDP. There has, however, been a rapid increase in spend-allocation on national roads in the BMW region between 2003 and 2005 with the allocation-spend increasing from €143 million in 2003 to €236 million in 2004 and €382 million in 2005.

The underspend in the BMW regional programme reflects the disappointing level of take up of some measures, and consequent lack of private funding, under that programme.

The rural development goal of my Department is to promote and maintain living and working populations in rural areas by helping to foster sustainable and culturally vibrant communities there. In that context, particular initiatives I have taken include: extension of CLÁR programme and development of the range of measures within its scope; establishment of the new rural social scheme; initiatives on small food producers and on rural enterprise support; implementation of the farm electrification grant scheme, for which I recently assumed responsibility from the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources; and establishment of Comhairle Na Tuaithe.

In addition, my Department also supports rural development through: the Leader programme; working in close co-operation with the Department of Agriculture and Food and the EU Commission in the negotiations on the adoption of the draft EU regulation on rural development for the period 2007-13; consideration, in co-operation with relevant Departments, of action on the review of rural enterprise supports; support of projects under the rural development fund; promoting debate and progressing rural development issues through the National Rural Development Forum; and continuation of cross-Border co-operation in rural development; leading the Rural Development Co-ordinating Committee under the NDP; participation as appropriate in interdepartmental committees on issues appropriate to rural development such as the national spatial strategy; continuation of support to the Western Development Commission and Údarás na Gaeltachta in the discharge of its functions and spend on the islands and the Gaeltacht.