Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 21: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation if he will publish his Department's draft submission made to the European Commission on Regional Aid guidelines post-2013; his views on the new regional aid map structure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10014/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Regional Aid Guidelines govern the areas in which Member States may grant regional aid, more commonly known as investment aid. Investment aid is intended to promote the economic development of certain disadvantaged areas within the European Union in order to redress regional disparities. The Guidelines specify rules for the selection of regions which are eligible for regional aid and define the maximum permitted levels of this aid. Under Ireland's current Regional Aid Map, regions covering 50% of the population are entitled to grant Regional Aid. The current Guidelines are due to expire on 31 December 2013.

To launch the work on the new Guidelines beyond 2013, the European Commission hosted a workshop for Member States in Brussels last March. The purpose of the workshop was to gather information on the operation of the current Guidelines and the experiences of Member States and to give Member States the opportunity to express preliminary views on the issues that should be reviewed in the future framework.

After consulting with stakeholders, my Department made submissions to the Commission both in advance and after the workshop. These submissions were preliminary responses to the Commission's requests for views and were made against a background where there are as yet no proposals from the Commission on a future Regional Aid framework. As these responses would form part of the negotiations with the European Commission, I do not intend to publish them.

The next steps are that the Commission is to undertake an Impact Assessment, which will involve questionnaires to Member States. Further multilateral meetings with Member States are due to be arranged in the last quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. The Commission anticipates the final report of the Impact Assessment in the third quarter of 2012, and the adoption of new Guidelines by end of 2012. The process of notification of the new Regional Aid Maps for the Member States will continue throughout 2013, after which the new Regional Aid Guidelines will enter into force. My Department will continue to liaise with stakeholders throughout the process.