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

Of course, the context is that the EU budget is under real pressure, which I acknowledge. Ireland has always sought to be a very constructive member state when it comes to supporting the policies and initiatives of the Union, and the budget is under pressure. I have pointed to our broad support for some of the other measures that were set out within that package but I have confirmed in the House and at the meeting of EU Finance Ministers our opposition to what is currently being proposed in respect of this specific own resource proposal.

To clarify what the impact would be in terms of the estimated additional contribution that the proposal would require, my Department's tentative estimate is that Ireland's annual contribution to the EU budget could on average rise by approximately €1.124 billion per year over the remainder of the current multi-annual financial framework, which runs until 2027. The context here is that we are already a significant net contributor. Ireland benefits enormously from EU membership and is a deeply committed member of the Union. In 2021, we received receipts from the EU budget of approximately €2.5 billion but our payments to the EU budget were approximately €3.5 billion, so we were a net contributor of approximately €1 billion. Of course, because of the calculation of the contribution to the EU budget being based on national income, Ireland's projected contribution to the annual budget is to increase very significantly in the coming years, and that is altogether aside from this specific proposal in regard to own resource.

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