Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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331. To ask the Minister for Finance when Ireland became a net contributor to the European Union; if he will outline the net beneficiary figures for Ireland from 1973; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26118/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Ireland became a net contributor to the EU budget in 2014, the first time since accession in 1973. The Budget Statistics, which go back to 1973, can be found on the Departart of Finance website at: .

EU Budget payments and public sector receipt data are published annually by the Department of Finance in the Budget Statistics bulletin. The latest edition from October 2015 contains the data up to 2014.  The public sector receipt measure captures funds under 'shared management' between national and EU authorities. In addition, the EU also pays some additional receipts directly to private beneficiaries under 'centralised direct management', most notably under the EU research funding programme.

For ease of reference, Ireland's receipts from and contributions to the EU Budget for the years 2010 to 2015 are set out in the following table.

(p) provisional.

*Direct Management - funds which are awarded and spent directly by the Commission. These are primarily research receipts.