Mr. Tony Murphy:

In a way, we are sort of infamous in EU circles because we are so good at absorbing EU funds. I recall that officials from other members states were sent to Ireland to see how it was being done. Ireland's reputation in this regard is not a myth; it is accurate. Absorption of funds is still an issue in the overall terms of the budget, but Ireland is performing above average in that regard. At the end of 2019, we had 60.6% of cumulative payments spent, which was the second highest in the EU after Finland. The Finns obviously learned something from their visits here. The average would be nearer 50%. The newer member states, in particular, have problems in terms of their administrative capacity to draw down funds. In addition to the €2 trillion, there is also still a lot of money left from the 2014 to 2020 period that has to be absorbed. To answer the Deputy's question simply, we still are fairly near the top of the class in this regard.