1 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach the amount of money currently in the Soldiers' and Sailors' Trust Fund; the number of payments and details thereof made from the trust fund in the year 1990 and up to the latest available date in 1991; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Of the £2.354 million received from the Sailors' and Soldiers' Land Trust, a sum of approximately £78,000 remains uncommitted. In response to a question on 27 February last. I gave the House details of all the projects for which grants were approved. The bulk of the money has been allocated to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, £1.1 million, and for the restoration of the Ballinamore-Ballyconnell Canal, £1 million.

As I informed the Deputy recently, I have allocated a further grant of approximately £54,000 to the Shaw Birthplace Museum Trust. With the exception of this grant and an outstanding sum of approximately £32,000 due to the RNLI, all the grants approved from the Sailors' and Soldiers' Funds have been paid.

Would the Taoiseach be willing to consider the possibility of a further grant in respect of the Shaw residence with a view to providing for its refurbishment?

I think we have gone as far as we can with that particular project. The allocation we made is subject to a number of conditions about the viability of the project and so on.

Does the Taoiseach recall that a commitment of some kind was given that some of the money would go to the Royal Irish Academy? Has anything been done about that?

I do not recall anything about that. I have had no applications from the Royal Irish Academy as far as I can recall.