asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on the exclusion of culture from the EC regional development plans for the Dublin area.

The European Community's structural funds do not provide for assistance for cultural activities as such. It was therefore not considered appropriate to include culture as one of the specific topics to be covered by the preparatory study for a programme for the Dublin area. However, to the extent that cultural activities have a substantial tourism content, they can qualify for structural fund assistance. The preparatory study and programme will therefore deal with cultural activities in that context.