515 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the amount of capital expenditure on infrastructural projects by his Department in the BMW region since its establishment to date; the projects funded; the amount of capital expenditure on infrastructural projects in the rest of the country in the same timeframe; and the projects funded. [7834/02]

The €185 million allocated under the regional operational programmes under the tourism sub-measures 1 to 3 of the local enterprise development priority, will be administered by Bord Fáilte Éireann under its new tourism product development scheme 2002-06 which, late last year, secured state aids approval from the European Commission. Project proposals have now been invited by the board, and expenditure will commence after projects are approved.