WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1619/98 by Patricia McKENNA to the Commission. Disqualification from CSF funding
Date: 1998-05-27
Institutions: European Parliament, MCKENNA
Subjects: Community support framework, Ireland, building subsidy, bus, means of public conveyance, public transport, rail transport, road building, transport infrastructure, underground railway













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91998E1619

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1619/98 by Patricia McKENNA to the Commission. Disqualification from CSF funding  


Official Journal C 013 , 18/01/1999 P. 0055 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1619/98by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission(27 May 1998)Subject: Disqualification from CSF fundingFollowing the Irish Government's decision to ignore the advice of the European Commission, its own consultants' report and the parties of the Opposition and go ahead with an underground option for the LUAS light-rail system in Dublin, can the Commission confirm that the £114 million in Community Support Framework Funding promised for the project has been definitively withdrawn?As the option which the consultants' report predicted would "bring about a significant deterioration in the inner-city environment" was chosen by the Irish Government, can the Commission also confirm that the CSF funds will not be diverted to road-building projects, which would further exacerbate an already disastrous situation?Answer given by Mme Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission(14 July 1998)On 8 July 1997 the Irish government commissioned an independent study to assess the option of putting the Dublin light rail system underground in the city centre. This study was completed at the end of April 1998. On 5 May 1998 the Irish authorities announced their intention to proceed with putting the city centre section underground.As a result of this decision, the Irish government concluded there was a risk that the deadline of 31 December 1999, by which legally binding commitments must be entered for use of the structural funds of the current programming period, would not be met. Consequently, at the recent monitoring committee meeting for the Irish operational programme for transport, the Irish authorities stated that they would be withdrawing the construction element of the light rail project from the current operational programme.As the project will no longer be constructed under the current programming period, decisions concerning reallocation of the LUAS funds were made by the Community support framework (CSF) monitoring committee at its meeting on 25 June 1998. The savings from LUAS, which include funding allocated in the mid-term review of the CSF for the planning and design of the Ballymun line, amount to a total of 150 MECU.The proposed reallocations are a continuation of the mid-term review approach that sought to address development gaps. As regards transport, national roads were identified as a priority during the mid-term review of the Irish CSF and have benefited from the provision of 40 MECU. However, the structural fund reallocations decided on give strong support for alternative public transport projects and implementation of the DTI strategy in particular. This is evidenced by the reallocation of 107 MECU specifically to public transport projects including mainline rail, Dublin suburban rail and DART services, as well as the DTI strategy to speed up provision of more cycle lanes, traffic calming measures and quality bus corridors.Overall, these measures should help ease Dublin's traffic congestion and will complement investment in the revised LUAS project.