Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Finance if the target level of infrastructural output for the southern and eastern regional programme under the current national development plan will be met by 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26548/05]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the Deputy is referring to the output gained under the local infrastructure priority of the regional programme. For the period January 2000 to December 2004, some €1.63 billion was spent on this priority under the southern and eastern regional operation programme. This represented some 95% of the original expenditure profile for the priority. Funding under this element of the operational programme provides for a wide range of investment including non-national roads, rural water schemes, waste management facilities, urban and village renewals projects, e-commerce infrastructure, seaports, safety projects at regional airports, habitat preservation and heritage conservation.

The most recent data on the operational programme available to my Department relates to the period January 2000 to December 2004. This suggests that outputs are consistent with targets and the level of expenditure incurred. This is particularly evident with respect to investment in the non-national roads, rural water and urban and village renewal measures. Progress reports for the period to the end of June 2005 will be presented to the next meeting of the monitoring committee at the end of this month.