Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the consistent and personal interest he has taken in the PEACE PLUS programme, which is so important to the Border counties and Northern Ireland. I am pleased that this new cross-Border programme is at its final stage of development as a successor to the EU's INTERREG and peace programmes. With an unprecedented funding allocation of some €1.1 billion, PEACE PLUS will support shared peace and prosperity across Northern Ireland and the Border counties over the remainder of this decade.

The draft PEACE PLUS programme has been developed by the Special EU Programmes Body, SEUPB, working closely with my Department and the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland, and has been approved by the Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and the North-South Ministerial Council. The draft programme was formally approved and adopted by the European Commission in July 2022. The final required element of programme development is the completion of a financing agreement between the EU, the UK and Ireland in order to formalise respective financial contributions to the new programme. By way of context, this had not been a requirement for previous iterations of the INTERREG and PEACE programmes, as the UK was then an EU member state. Work on this draft agreement is now well advanced. Engagement is ongoing between the three parties in order to finalise the text of the draft agreement over the coming weeks. The agreement will then have to be ratified by the three parties. It is anticipated that this process will be completed in time for the first calls for funding applications under PEACE PLUS to issue during quarter 1 of next year.

I must also commend the programme of pre-development support for PEACE PLUS which is being delivered by the SEUPB. This is ensuring that potential applicants can deliver high-quality applications once funding calls open.

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