Agenda Item A27 MEETING OF DÚN LAOGHAIRE-RATHDOWN COUNTY COUNCIL 8TH SEPTEMBER 2014 EUROPEAN UNION GRANT SCHEMES Question:
Councillor M. Merrigan
“To ask the Chief Executive what measures, if any, are in place to ensure that this County is in a position to fully avail of European Union Grant Schemes for the development of the community, sports, cultural, education and business sectors in the County and, in particular, for the funding of initiatives and developments in areas of disadvantage which have suffered disproportionally through funding cutbacks during the recent recession?” Reply: The Council has actively participated in European projects and availed of grant schemes where the objectives of the respective EU Programmes align with Council objectives. Some of the measures where Council have been able to secure EU funding include grants for structural improvements administered through national schemes; participation in inter-regional partnerships such as those facilitated through the Ireland-Wales Interreg IVA Programme; and participation in Europe-wide programmes such as via the URBACT and COSME programmes. Benefits accrued include knowledge transfer and sharing, participation of local community leaders in study visits, joint marketing and promotion campaigns, staff development, benchmarking against other local authorities as well as supports for local businesses. Many of the projects and partnerships had a specific focus on initiatives targeting disadvantaged areas (e.g. http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/SURE/outputs_media/LAP_en_DLR_SURE.pdf). To develop EU projects however requires processes where Council staff build relationships with other local authorities in locations across Europe. Also, EU Programmes tend to have stringent funding and administrative criteria and a number of checks and balances internally (in Ireland) and via the European Commission’s different monitoring committees. Finally, accessing EU funding and programmes is a competitive process. The various directorates of the European Commission periodically publish calls for proposals. So far the Council has been involved in successful proposals mainly because of a focussed approach, which is that the Council is only interested in projects that will assist in the delivery of the existing Council programmes or help with innovation of the Council’s business processes. As such the decision to participate in EU projects is an executive decision mainly because of a focussed approach where the Council only pursues projects that assist in the delivery of the existing Council programmes or are in response to an identified need particularly in the area of innovation on Council business processes.
Contact: Wessel Badenhorst, Administrative Officer, Local Enterprise Office
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