Meeting:                    Wednesday 7^th September 2011

Venue:                        Pobal, Monaghan

Present:                    Tony McCusker (Chairperson), Helen Johnston, Mary Cunningham, Brendan Mackin, Jim Deery, Sarah O’ Halloran

In attendance:           DFP: Steve Clements (representing Martin Tyrell)

                                   SEUPB:John Cherry

Pobal:Denis Leamy, Paddy McGinn, Colette Nulty, Pauline Perry, Mary McConnell (Minutes)

                                    Community Relations Council: Jacqueline Irwin, Frank Murphy, Gordie Walker, Naomi Doak

1     Steering committee members:

The Chairperson invited all the members to introduce themselves.

2     Conflict of interest:

None declared

3     Minutes:   

Minutes from 30^th June were agreed

4     Matters Arising: 

·        National Museums NI (002853)

The Consortium is awaiting approval from the OFM/DFM Economist before final consideration by the Steering Committee.  Clarifications are currently being sought by the Economist in relation to the statutory remit of the project partner, BBC, and the procurement of BBC services within the project.

5     Financial update on Theme 1.2 Acknowledging and Dealing with the Past

The Steering Committee was presented with an overview of the current allocations against budget as at the 30^th August 2011.  Currently under the Open Call, 9 applications valued at €13m have gone for External Economic Appraisal;   a further 34 applications valued at €27m are under assessment by the Consortium and 9 applications with a recommended budget of €3,967,700 are for consideration by the Steering Committee today. As it currently stands this open call remains very competitive. In the event that the total value of approved projects is more than the budget available, projects scoring above the quality threshold of 65% will be ranked and funding will be allocated on that basis.  It was noted to the committee that although the 9 projects presented at this meeting are all positive recommendations by the Consortium, this is not typical of the trend.  The Consortium will be recommending a number for rejection at the next meeting that were completed since the mail-out.

6     Overview of projects under consideration (including brief overview of Selection Criteria and Scoring Framework)

Consortium gave a presentation on:

·        The Application Portfolio:   An update on the  status of open call applications was provided

·        The Open Call Assessment Process: This included  a  recap on the  assessment process, Theme 1.2 Indicative Actions and the Deloitte Review principles for re-opening Theme 1.2

·        Rejected Stage 1 Assessments:   This included the number of Consortium de-briefing meetings with all rejected applicants at Stage 1 and the requests for independent Reviews of Steering Committee decisions. Clarification was provided to the members on the debriefing and review procedure. It was confirmed that the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) manage the independent review process and select the review panel.  It was noted by the committee members that should a number of the seven applicants who have submitted requests for reviews be overturned, the committee and staff may need to review procedures for assessments.

·        The remaining workload: A breakdown of assessments yet to be completed was provided.   Following discussion around the amount of paperwork and information there will be in the next mailout it was suggested that the nominated committee members option may be a possibility i.e.  In addition to committee members reviewing all papers provided members would be designated specific applications to then lead the discussion at the next meeting.  It was agreed to implement this process.

·        External Economic Appraisal:   It is envisaged that the external economic appraisers will be appointed by the Consortium within the next month.   On receipt of the completed appraisals there will remain considerable in house work to complete the appraisal for these projects.

7     Project recommendations for consideration

All decisions have been recorded on the Project Decision Grid attached.

8     AOB

·        Queen Mary university of London:  It was noted that the promoter has accepted the recommendation of the last Steering Committee meeting not to grant an increase in grant aid.  The promoter has subsequently submitted a request to the Consortium in terms of re-profiling their budget to facilitate an extension to the timeframe of the project.

9     Date of Next Meeting:     11.30am Thursday 29^th September 2011

CRC Offices, Belfast.