The Government has made a second payment request under the European Union’s post-pandemic Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe confirmed on Friday.
The request for €115.5 million in grants, made in December 2024, follows a first payment request for €324 million submitted in September 2023.
The State will receive about €1.15 billion over the lifetime of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) funded by the RRF.
In a statement, the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform added that the aim of the NRRP was to contribute to a sustainable, equitable, green and digital recovery effort “in a manner that complements and supports the Government’s broader efforts”.
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The RRF allocation will be paid to Ireland in five instalments, with the drawdown of payments contingent on the delivery of 17 milestones and targets.
The request covers investments in the areas of sustainable transport through the award of contracts for investments in Cork Commuter Rail; the improvement of digital infrastructure through the installation of broadband routers in schools; the establishment of four European digital innovation hubs; and the launch of the Green Transition Fund to help businesses move away from fossil fuels.
It includes reforms that aim to bridge the digital skills gap through targeted training programmes, enhance healthcare quality through the establishment of community health networks and increase access to affordable housing.
Other key actions include annual increases in the carbon tax rate, the streamlining of the pension landscape for greater simplicity and consistency, and the broader application of the “SME test” designed to reduce regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship.
The Minister said the payment request had been made after extensive engagement with the commission during an informal co-operation process.
“The RRF is the main pillar of the European recovery plan, NextGenerationEU, designed to provide financial aid to member states in order to combat the economic and social effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and make the European economy more resistant to future shocks,” he said.
“Once the second payment request has been approved, Ireland will have successfully achieved 48 per cent of the milestones and targets within our plan and have secured 38 per cent of our €1.15 billion funding.”
The commission said it would now begin assessing the State’s fulfilment of the milestones and targets linked to this payment request. It will then share its preliminary assessment with the council’s Economic and Financial Committee.
The performance-based RRF entered into force in February 2021. It finances reforms and investments in EU member states made from the start of the pandemic in February 2020 until the end of 2026. Countries can receive financing up to a previously agreed maximum amount.
RRF projects are pre-funded through the Estimates processes and the National Development Plan (NDP), with the RRF-allocated funding recouped from the EU after the milestones and targets have been achieved.
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