Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 179: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of EU funding received by her Department directly or for institutions, groups, organisations or bodies under her aegis in the past 20 years to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47243/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland has qualified for Structural Funds since we joined the EU in 1973 and my Department, and its predecessor the Department of Labour, has been the National Authority for the European Social Fund (ESF) since that time. As National Authority for the ESF, my Department receives all ESF monies paid to Ireland by the European Commission. The ESF received by Ireland is used for the implementation of agreed Programmes or Initiatives, which are implemented by a range of Government Departments and States Agencies, and my Department transfers ESF payments to the Departments and Agencies concerned.

For the 2007 to 2013 round of funding the European Commission has allocated a total of €375.36 million of assistance to Ireland from the ESF. A total of €18.768 has been received to date.

Under the 2000 to 2006 round of funding a total of €1,030.05 million has been received to date by Ireland through the ESF. That assistance was delivered through five Operational Programmes operated by various Departments and Agencies. Total ESF allocated to each of the 5 programmes of the 2000 to 2006 round of funding is as follows:

Under the 1994 to 1999 round of EU funding, over 2,181 million was received by Ireland from the ESF. That assistance was delivered through 6 individual Operational Programmes (OPs) and a further 9 distinct Community Initiatives (CIs), and Innovatory Actions as follows:

The ESF figures for the years 1973 to 1993 from Table 11 of the "Budgetary and Economic Statistics" which was published by the Department of Finance in 2007 are provided below. It is not feasible to give a further breakdown by programme of ESF payments for this Department for these earlier years.

In addition, my Department would also have received some direct funding outside of the Structural Funds in support of specific activities in areas such as Consumer Affairs, or as a participant in the "BRITE" Project, administered by the European Business Register (EBR), for example.

The Department would also have been involved in European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) co-funded projects since Ireland's accession to the EU, however, ERDF receipts would have been paid directly to the central Exchequer by the European Commission and not channelled through individual Departments.

Finally, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment would also have co-ordinated a number of EU Programmes over the years under which European funding was awarded on the basis of competitive "Calls for Proposals" issued by the European Commission. However, the funding successfully accessed by many different applicants would have been paid directly to the successful applicants and not channelled through the Department.