CLAIMS that money allocated to employment and regeneration projects in Belfast went to paramilitary groupings have been strongly rejected by the Northern Environment Minister, Mr Malcolm Moss.
The allegations arose from a Public Accounts Select Committee meeting in London last week which heard an audit office report criticising the administration of the Belfast Action Teams in the early 1990s.
Mr Moss said that since the formation of these teams in 1987, three internal audits had been carried out on their work in addition to the recent audit by the Northern Ireland Audit Office. Three independent evaluations had also been carried out about the impact of their work in local communities.
The last of these, a comprehensive examination of up to 4,000 projects, would be published early next year. None of these reports, he said, found evidence of funds leaking to paramilitary organisations.
There was absolutely no evidence to question the integrity of the highly respected local community organisations which originated and carried out the projects which were supported by the initiative.
Restrictions introduced in 1985 precluded government funds from being used to support groups which were judged to have links to paramilitary organisations which were sufficiently close to enable them to improve the standing or further the aims of such groupings.