Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 919: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the funding allocated in 2005 to a group (details supplied); the projects which were grant-aided; the costs which were incurred in relation to administration costs, staffing and so on; the budget in 2005 for this group; and the projects that were grant aided by this project. [1555/06]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Western Development Commission, WDC, is a body under the aegis of my Department, established under the WDC Act 1999, to promote the economic and social development of the western region. In 2005, the WDC had an operational budget of €1,843,000 as set out in the revised estimates. This included €915,000 for pay — 15 staff — and €928,000 for non-pay, which included administration costs. In addition, allocations totalling €4.3 million were made by the WDC under the western investment fund. WDC initiatives included the following: Promotion of the region: The Look West campaign which highlights the attractions of living and working in the western region. Transport, communications and energy infrastructure: Supporting the development of Knock Airport as a regional development hub. Monitoring provision of broadband telecommunications in the region. Monitoring of transport infrastructure including the western rail corridor. Monitoring of energy infrastructure. Rural development: Facilitation of the western development tourism programme, WDTP, which is a partnership with key national and regional tourism stakeholders, for example. the Green Box and Walking in the West initiatives. Supporting the development of the organic agri-food sector. Working on models of rural development. Renewable energy: Building on recommendations in the "To Catch the Wind" report on community ownership of wind farms preliminary review of the regional biomass sector. WIF: The WDC provides funding by way of loans and equity through the western investment fund, WIF. It does not provide grant aid. Investments are made on a commercial basis by way of ordinary share capital, preference share capital, and loans, or a combination of these mechanisms In 2005, the WIF allocation of €4.3 million funded 13 investments in areas, including telecommunications, computer software, medical devices and fisheries. Details are set out in the following list of investment projects.