Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 139: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the amount of EU funding received by his Department for programmes administered by his Department or by agencies under the remit of his Department in each year of the past ten years; if he will detail the specific programmes in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29479/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

My Department is responsible for, amongst other things, overall policy in relation to Ireland's EU Structural and Cohesion Funds, including the full drawdown of Ireland's allocation. It also plays a central role in the development and implementation of each of the Operational Programmes underpinning the National Development Plan/Community Support Framework (NDP/CSF) through which the EU Funding is drawn down.

Receipts from the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund for all Operational Programmes, and from the Cohesion Fund, are received by my Department.

Receipts from the European Social Fund are received by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, while receipts from the European Agricultural Guidance & Guarantee Fund and the Financial Instrument of Fisheries Guidance are paid to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Details of all EU receipts up to August 2006, can be obtained from the following website: http://www.finance.gov.ie/ documents/publications/other/BES2007V2.pdf

In the last ten years the following EU funded Programmes have been administered directly by my Department:

1994-1999 period

Technical Assistance Operational Programme 1994-1999Ireland/Wales Programme 1994-1999

Ireland/Northern Ireland Peace I Programme

Ireland/Northern Ireland Interreg IIA Programme

2000-2006 period

Technical Assistance Operational Programme 2000-2006

Ireland/Northern Ireland Peace II Programme

Ireland /Northern Ireland Interreg IIIA Programme

Ireland/Wales Interreg IIIA Programme

The administration of the Ireland/Wales Interreg IIIA Programme 2000-2006 was undertaken by the Welsh European Funding Office. The Ireland/ Northern Ireland Interreg IIIA Programme is administered by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). This body operates jointly under the aegis of the Department of Finance in Ireland and the Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland.

Details of receipts under these programmes for the past ten years are set out in the following table:

Ireland has been allocated some €901m in EU Structural Funds over the period 2007-2013. The European Commission has approved the National Strategic Reference Framework which sets out the strategic orientation of the funding for this period. This will be implemented through three operational programmes, one national ESF programme (managed by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment) and two regional ERDF programmes (managed by the Border, Midland and Western and Southern and Eastern Regional Assemblies). No EU funding has been received to date under the 2007-2013 round of funding.