More than €900 million of EU Structural Funds will be directed towards investments in human capital, innovation and strengthening the competitiveness of the regions over the next seven years, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen announced today.
Unveiling Ireland's EU Structural Funds Programmes for 2007-2013, Mr Cowen said the allocation of the funds were designed to complement the National Development Plan, which, he described, as "the key investment vehicle for addressing Ireland's social and economic needs".
The national strategy or the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), which must be negotiated and agreed with the European Commission before the funds can be released, sets out, in broad terms, how Ireland will invest €1.9 billion of Exchequer funding and €750 million of EU Structural Funds over the next seven years.
The priorities in the framework will take shape through three operational programmes: one for investing in human resources (part-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF)), one for Southern and Eastern Region (part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)), and one for the Border, Midlands and Western Region (part-funded by the ERDF).
Ireland has been allocated €750 million under the Regional Competitiveness and Employment Objective to support innovation, sustainable development, and better accessibility to training projects.
An additional €151 million has also been allocated under the Territorial Co-operation Objective which funds cross-border, transnational and interregional co-operation programmes including the Peace III programme funding for the North.
Mr Cowen said: "EU Structural Funds have played an important role in the unprecedented success of the Irish economy and the dramatic rise in the standard of living across all sectors of Irish society over the past ten to fifteen years".
