Vol. 444 No. 1
3 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for the Environment the way in which the revised allocations of money under the National Development Plan 1994 to 1999 recently approved by the European Commission will affect the various projects planned by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
In replying to Questions Nos. 6, 9, 42, 63 and 70 on 22 March last, I told the House that the total financial allocation made in the National Development Plan for services within my Department's remit was approximately £2,500 million at 1993 prices. I went on to point out that over 40 per cent of this expenditure would qualify for assistance from the Cohesion Fund, and would not be affected by the pro rata adjustments put forward by the Government in relation to the programmes to be assisted under the Community Support Framework. Overall, therefore, I indicated that the impact of these adjustments on my Department's allocation would be marginal.
I am happy to confirm today that my assessment of the situation last March has been substantiated by the decisions reached by the European Commission last week on the Community Support Framework for Ireland. In short, the programmes for which I am responsible are to involve a total expenditure of £2,456 million, in 1994 prices, over the period 1994-99. As this total is only a few percentage points less than the total proposed in the National Development Plan and as the impact will be absorbed over six years, it is clear that the actual effects on the planning and implementation of projects would be minimal, even if no additional EU aid were to be obtained over and above the allocations now made; it is, of course, the Government's belief that, over the six year period, it will be possible to get additional aid.
As has been pointed out on many occasions, there are different stages in the Structural Funds process involving the National Development Plan, the Community Support Framework and the various Operational Programmes. The selection of individual projects for EU assistance is a further phase in the process, following approval of the Operational Programmes and it will be an ongoing process throughout the implementation period. It is too soon, therefore, to speculate as to the individual projects or their timescale. I can tell the House, however, that over the six year period over £1.2 billion will be spent on roads. Over £1 billion will be spent on county and regional roads, when account is taken of other Exchequer moneys for maintenance and of contributions by local authorities from their own resources.
There will be a consistently high level of spending — over £100 million per year on average — on water and sanitary services, enabling continuing progress to be made in protecting and enhancing water quality generally. There will be co-financed expenditure of £42 million on waste facilities and on environmental research. Well over £100 million will be spent on the cultural/heritage programme for Temple Bar, a local authority urban renewal programme and a new "village renewal" measure.
Overall, the outcome of the Government's approach to the negotiations with the European Commission is a most satisfactory one from my Department's point of view.
Is the Minister confirming the figure of £655 million for direct investment in environmental services as stated in the National Development Plan 1994-1999 and that there will be no reduction in that area? If there is a reduction, will he detail the areas which will be affected? I was pleased to hear that moneys for road development, particularly the improvement of our substandard minor roads, will be available. Is the Minister saying that all projects will start and finish in accordance with the programme set out in the original plan or will there be delays in respect of some of them?
Practically all the funds for environmental services come from the Cohesion Fund which is not affected and so the figures I gave stand. With regard to the implementation of the operational programmes yet to be decided, there is a marginal change in the overall amounts which we hope will be made up by buoyancy in the economy or which could, in a small number of cases at the tail end of the programme, involve some delay. It is marginal in the context of the whole programme.
Will the Minister please publish the projects that will be affected and the effect of the reduction in the allocation in each case? It is important that the public and local authorities should be aware of the position.
It is full steam ahead for 97 per cent of what is contained in the National Development Plan relative to my Department. There will be no delay whatsoever. I hope that any marginal balance outside of that could also be fully met within the time period but, if not, there may be some delay. As regards individual projects, the operational programme on environmental services and the operational programme on transport are either with the Commission or ready to be sent to it. Moneys from the Cohesion Fund are on a project basis, not a programme basis, so each project must withstand economic analysis and strict scrutiny and that will go on through the period of six years. It will be impossible to give anything more than an indicative list which I will be happy to publish at the end of the negotiations.
