Oireachtas

Ways to hold EU funding still being examined

The Labour leader called on the Government to publish its proposals on regionalisation in draft form

By MICHAEL O'REGAN and MARIE O'HALLORAN
Wed Oct 14 1998 - 01:00

The Labour leader called on the Government to publish its proposals on regionalisation in draft form. Mr Ruairi Quinn said this would maximise EU support for the State.

The Taoiseach said he knew from his colleagues in Europe that nobody had put forward any proposals.

"To negotiate precisely what you are going to do in advance would be, to put it mildly, very stupid. We are not going to do that."

Mr Ahern said the Government was examining how it could best maximise resources from the European structural and cohesions funds for the long term, adding that it was prepared to listen to what deputies had to say in a special Dail debate.

READ MORE

The Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, challenged the Taoiseach to advance "a coherent argument for abandoning the unemployed in Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Waterford, if he proceeds with the plans which he has indicated he supports for dividing this country between the west, the Border and the rest of the country".

He asked Mr Ahern if he was aware that CSO statistics indicated that 85 of the State's 110 unemployment blackspots were in the area south of the line from Dublin to Cork.

The rest were in the area which the Taoiseach proposed to ensure would continue to get Objective 1 status, while other parts of the State "would be abandoned to the sad and uncertain moods of the Minister for Finance".

Mr Ahern said he would discuss regionalisation and the options being considered by the Government with the EU Commissioner, Ms Monika Wulf-Mathies, on Friday.

He would also, with his Cabinet colleagues and the Commission generally, be talking about continuing the excellent work in urban blackspots.

Mr De Rossa warned that these would be the very schemes lost as a result of the Taoiseach's proposals to divide the State in two. "Are you aware that of the unemployed in this State, 35 per cent of them live in the Dublin region and over half of those are long-term unemployed?"

Mr Ahern replied: "I have not put forward any proposals."

Replying to further questions, Mr Ahern said the criteria were firmly laid down. A full Objective 1 region had to be below 75 per cent of GDP. This was something not open to debate as of now, and this situation was unlikely to change.

What was open to Ireland was to see what presentation of programmes, cases and national plans it could put. If it was decided after 2006 not to have some regional structure, the State would rule out even areas below 75 per cent of GDP.

"We have to look at that. And, of course, we have to take account of areas which might be in transitional Objective 1 and would be under 75 per cent . . . urban blackspots, rural blackspots, and see what best way we deal with them.

"Those are the kind of issues which the Government is addressing as it prepares for negotiations."

The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, asked the Taoiseach if he was aware of several areas outside those considered for retention of full Objective 1 which had been classified under different EU schemes as either severely disadvantaged or disadvantaged areas. What special arrangements would be made for them?

Mr Ahern said that matters such as those were under debate, adding that urban and rural blackspots which might be in Objective 1 areas under transition had to be looked at.