Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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84. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the likely allocations for Ireland from the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund for the 2014-2020 period. [53637/13]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Ireland has been allocated approximately €1bn from Structural Funds, i.e. the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF), for the 2014-2020 period. The split between the two Funds will be determined in the context of the programme planning that is currently underway.

I understand that the allocation for the European Maritime & Fisheries Fund (EMFF), for which the Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine has lead responsibility, has not yet been finalised.

Preparations for the new programming period have been underway in Ireland over 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 R&D investment and the competitiveness of the business sector; and promoting an environmentally-friendly and resource efficient economy.