Results 5,361-5,380 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: I cannot commit the Commission to a particular timeframe. To be fair, the Commission has been really supportive throughout this whole process. It will already have seen much, if not all, of the formal application previously. It has been directly involved in helping to guide the completion of the application process. Therefore, it will not come as a surprise to it. Certainly, the timeline...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: There has been extensive consultation and engagement as part of this process. Forums have been held by the SEUBP with communities and bodies likely to be applying for funding under the different thematic areas. I referred to a specific one that took place in recent weeks. Considerable effort has been put into ensuring that this process is as simple and straightforward as possible. One...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: My Department is involved in the process throughout. While ultimately PEACEPLUS will involve selecting individual projects to be funded, that will follow the thematic calls. The calls will be under each individual theme and then the relevant applications will come in. Normally the applications are of a cross-Border nature. They generally do not come in from a single entity on a sole...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Deputy for his comments. There is no specific theme in PEACEPLUS related to ex-prisoners but the thrust of the programme is to place emphasis on providing support to the most marginalised within our communities, including ex-prisoners. They are not excluded from being part of projects that will be funded under PEACEPLUS. It is important to give a sense of the level of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Senator. In answer to her first question, we do not see any risks to the funding commitment that has been put in place in relation to the ongoing discussions between the UK and the EU. Obviously, we are monitoring the situation on an ongoing basis but the funding commitment has been provided by the UK Treasury. The EU funding is certainly secure as part of the overall EU budget...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Senator. She touches on a really important issue, namely, the need to have the capacity to roll out this programme in line with the timeline that is there. As she said, the SEUPB currently has a permanent headcount of 57 employees. The staffing allocation was last reviewed back in 2012 so we believe a review is timely given the very significant increase in the funding that is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: We are still in the work-out phase, as such, of the existing programmes. The final accounting for all of it is yet to be done.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: There will be continued spend for a period yet on INTERREG VA and PEACE IV so I certainly do not have any information at this point of any resources that have had to be waived as a result of their not being spent.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: I ask Ms Clynes to reply.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: Absolutely, Vice Chairman. I understand as well that Gina McIntyre is prepared to come before the committee and engage in detail on the work of the SEUPB.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: We also have a number of other important EU funding streams coming through the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that I am sure the committee will be taking an interest in over the period ahead. We of course have the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, which is a really important one. We have the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is also coming through my Department. Then...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: It is an issue that continues to be raised. The Northern Ireland Minister of Finance, Conor Murphy, MLA, and I are both very anxious that the programme processes are efficient and effective, and place the minimum burden on applicants at the application stage and throughout the project, in the funding and in the drawdown of money under the programme. We have been working with the Special EU...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: I will highlight the new development of small grants that are intended for local community groups. Again, this issue came up time and again across the whole consultation period as it was carried out. It was the issue of accessibility for small grassroots and community-oriented community organisations. As I said earlier, we have two new small grant programmes included in PEACEPLUS, to allow...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: That is correct. We are very much at the final stages. The outline of the draft programme has been published, and the full application is just about putting flesh on the bones of that. The overall thematic areas are now agreed and the draft programme has been approved by all key stakeholders. Now it is just about additional detail. The Commission is very much aware of the overall...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: I believe the themes are broad enough to encompass the overwhelming majority of projects that people would have in mind. The steering committee must have regard to the detailed assessment criteria when it is assessing individual applications, but our sense certainly is that the themes are broad enough to enable applications to be successful right across the full reach.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: I will ask Ms Clynes to come in on the issue of the small grants, and perhaps she may have particular figures. If the geographical areas are outside the direct remit, there is the opportunity to partner with groups from within the geographical area and become part of the application with them. It is possible that there would be funding for projects that extend beyond that area. It would be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: I will ask Ms Clynes to provide details on the work of the programme monitoring committee and steering committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: We received the first tranche of funding just before Christmas. As we indicated in the budget, the intention would be to allocate about half of the overall funding in 2022 and the remaining half next year. There is a reference period and the funding has to be spent before the end of next year. Again, because it is EU funding, there are very clear criteria. There must be a direct, explicit...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: As I understand it, that is currently live on eTenders. The aim is to put in place a permanent solution there and that is very much the type of project that will be funded. In the main, the BAR funding comes in the form of pre-financing. Approximately 80% is in the form of pre-financing and we account for it subsequently. The absolute priority is to ensure that we have enough qualifying...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Special EU Programmes Body: Engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (26 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: We are working with line Departments at the moment on various proposals that they have made. Some allocations have been made at this point, particularly in the fisheries area. We can send a detailed note to the committee on the BAR.