Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The European Commission’s proposal for the MFF for the period 2021 to 2027 was published on 2 May 2018. I welcome the publication of the proposal, which marks the start of an important debate on the future of the EU budget. The proposals come at a time of great change and adjustment for the EU with new priorities and the departure of UK from the EU.

With Ireland’s growing prosperity we have moved from being a net beneficiary to a net contributor to the EU budget. As such, it is important that the next MFF will be an appropriately sized spending plan for the EU 27 in a post-Brexit era, and that it will be capable of meeting the priorities of the European Union.

Negotiations on those priorities and how they should be funded will be complex. The Deputy asked how Brexit will impact on all of this. It will do so in two different ways. First, the level of contribution currently made by the UK will obviously not continue into the future. The UK will honour some of the commitments it has but clearly it will not be contributing to future European Union budgets. The second effect is that it does not reduce the demand for expenditure from the European Union budget in other member states. The level of demand is there for the same or higher levels of expenditure and one of the key contributors to this budget will no longer be involved in the negotiation.

In the context of Ireland’s contributions under the next MFF, the European Commission’s post-2020 proposal would lead to an increase in this country's contributions to the EU budget. As the Deputy will be aware, the Taoiseach has already said that Ireland is open to contributing more. Clearly, we need to ensure that Ireland’s core priorities are protected. It is difficult to be definitive on the level of projected contributions because the negotiations have yet to commence.

See this speech in context