This article is from page 23 of the 2009-03-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 23 JPG
PLEAS are being made in the Dail to extend time for tourism projects ap- plying for financial aid because the investors are being frozen out in the credit crunch.
Up to 30 schemes seeking tax breaks under the Mid-Shannon Tour- ism Investment Scheme were to have their applications completed by June 1 of this year.
But the credit squeeze means that most of those schemes cannot guar- antee their end of the funding, rul- ing them out of applying for the tax relief which has been built into their
oF Nerv E-haloyetcy
The Dail heard from Fine Gael TDs and senators in the mid-west that in- vestors are being hit in relation to their applications by the paralysis in the lending system.
The financial support announced in the 2007 budget was to provide tax breaks spread over seven years for new and refurbished tourism facili- ties other than accommodation.
It has been delayed for most of a year, going through the vetting proc- ess necessary with the EU.
Deputy Pat Breen (FG) said it was ‘‘a major blow for those caught in the situation. It is lunacy to jeopardise
projects like these which have the potential to create jobs in an eco- nomic crisis.”
The threat to the tourism projects 1s the second to emerge in recent times in relation to tourism earnings from Lough Derg.
East Clare’s most important source of income – tourism – could be seri- ously compromised if plans go ahead to take millions of litres of water out of the Shannon and Lough Derg to feed Dublin’s needs.
A presentation by Dublin City Council’s consultants on the pro- posed project did nothing to calm fears in the mid-west about plans to
drain 340 million litres of water a day out of the Shannon system.
The extra water is needed to meet the projected demand from Dublin up to 2031 and beyond.
Local representatives, ecologists, fisheries groups and the ESB have all added their voices to the concerns being expressed about the project.
“We don’t have anything like enough information about the im- pact which this could have on our water-ways,” said Killaloe council- lor, Tony O’Brien.