§ Rev Ian Paisleyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money Northern Ireland has received from the European regional development fund in each financial year from 1 January 1973; how much of these receipts each year represented a cash addition to the Northern Ireland economy; and how much was used to offset Government expenditure on Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Butler[pursuant to his reply, 19 March 1984, c. 380]: The following amounts were received from the European regional development fund:
Financial Year Industrial Receipts £ million Infrastructure Receipts £ million Total £ million 1975–76 2.3 0.6 2.9 1976–77 3.8 3.4 7.2 1977–78 2.5 3.9 6.4 1978–79 0.8 3.2 4.0 1979–80 3.3 12.7 16.0 1980–81 10.2 10.8 21.0 1981–82 7.7 8.7 16.4 1982–83 2.5 15.5 18.0 1983–84* — 7.9 7.9 Total †33.l 66.7 99.8 * To December 1984. † The European Community has recently decommitted £13.6 million in respect of failed industrial projects, viz De Lorean and Courtaulds (Campsie). £3.1 million of this repayment has been met by the Commission withholding receipts for 1983–84. The balance of £10.5 million was met by a cash payment to the Department of Trade and Industry which had satisfied the European Community's claim for repayment. This payment was a technical adjustment within the public sector and has no implications for the public expenditure allocation to Northern Ireland. The net total for ERDF industrial receipts is therefore £22.6 million. All the receipts represent cash additions to the recipients and are subject to normal European Community audit arrangements.
Receipts for infrastructure projects are paid to bodies responsible for undertaking infrastructure works, thus representing a direct benefit to those bodies by enabling them to reduce their capital indebtedness.
90WReceipts for industrial projects in Northern Ireland, as in other parts of the United Kingdom, are appropriated-in-aid of voted expenditure.
The overall level of receipts is taken into account in the Government's decisions on public expenditure allocations, and their availability enables public expenditure to be maintained at a higher level than would otherwise be feasible.
§ Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money Northern Ireland has been allocated from the European social fund in each financial year since 1 January 1973; how much of these receipts were paid to the private sector and how much to the public sector; how much each year represented a cash addition to the Northern Ireland economy; and how much was used to offset Government expenditure on Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Butler[pursuant to his reply, 19 March 1984, c. 380]: The following amounts were received from the European social fund:
Financial year Private sector £ million Public sector £ million Total £ million 1973–74 — — — 1974–75 — 3.36 3.36 1975–76 0.01 — 0.01 1976–77 0.12 6.31 6.43 1977–78 0.35 7.17 7.52 1978–79 0.42 14.53 14.95 1979–80 0.57 14.39 14.96 1980–81 2.00 21.01 23.01 1981–82 2.62 22.36 24.98 1982–83 5.52 29.72 35.24 1983–84* 4.43 20.81 25.24 Total 16.04 139.66 155.70 * To December 1983. These receipts represent cash additions to the recipients and are subject to normal European Community audit arrangements. Receipts earned by the private sector are paid to the claimant as are receipts in respect of certain public sector bodies. The balance of receipts earned by public sector schemes are appropriated-in-aid of voted expenditure.
The overall level of receipts is taken into account in the Government's decisions on public expenditure allocations, and their availability enables public expenditure to be maintained at a higher level than would otherwise be feasible.