Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 113: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures he has taken to meet the €15 million reduction from the European Social Fund; and the steps he has taken to redress the departmental irregularities that led to the decrease. [31597/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As a consequence of a Commission audit decision in the year 2000, €15.6 million of European Social Fund moneys were withheld from Ireland. The sum involved represents less than 1% of the amount allocated to the three operational programmes for the period 1994-99. The Commission decision was contested by my Department and this resulted in a hearing before the European Court of Justice this year. On 15 September 2005 the European Court of Justice agreed with the European Commission's opinion that Ireland had over-claimed the contribution due from the ESF. This was due to a technical issue in the manner in which Ireland presented ESF claims.

It should be noted that the Commission accepts that all expenditure incurred under the programmes in question was eligible and that no allegation of fraud was made.

Of the €15.6 million withheld after the Commission decision in 2000, €7.2 million was withheld from the funding allocated to my Department and the following Departments — Education and Science, Health and Children, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The remaining €8.4 million of funding was paid from Exchequer resources to what was then the National Training Development Institute, which was a non-governmental organisation. The action required to be taken in respect of these funds is under consideration, in consultation with the relevant Departments.

Irregularities of the type that have caused this clawback are very unlikely to recur in relation to the current operational programmes period because of the additional management and financial controls implemented within the funding cascade structure as a result of the expertise gained from the previous period of funding, 1994-99.