Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the outcome of yesterday’s vote in the European Parliament on the cohesion legislative package. This brings to a close more than two years of negotiations involving the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the European Commission. I am pleased that during our Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Ireland was able to play an important role in that process.

The legislative package that was agreed yesterday will provide the basis for the next round of structural funds spending in Ireland and across the European Union. The package comprises a set of six regulations covering the European Regional Development Fund, ERDF, the European Social Fund, ESF and the Cohesion Fund. Political agreement on four of the six regulations that were finalised yesterday was reached under the Irish Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Along with the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, EAFRD and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, EMFF, these funds comprise the European Structural and Investment, ESI funds.

My Department has overall responsibility for EU cohesion policy and for the ESI funds, as well as specific responsibility for the ERDF. The Minister for Education and Skills has primary responsibility for the ESF while the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has responsibility for the EAFRD and the EMFF. Ireland no longer benefits from the Cohesion Fund.

Member states will have four months from the entry into force of the new regulations to submit a partnership agreement to the Commission. This will constitute a formal agreement between Ireland and the Commission regarding the use of the funds. Preparations for the new programming period have been underway in Ireland for the past year. This has involved public consultations as well as the preparation of needs analyses and ex-ante evaluations. The outcome of these processes will inform the preparation of the partnership agreement and related operational programmes through which EU funding will be drawn down. As regards the ERDF and ESF programmes, the issues likely to be addressed include combatting long-term and youth unemployment and social exclusion, promoting research and development investment and the competitiveness of the business sector as well as promoting an environmentally-friendly and resource-efficient economy.

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