Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

503. To ask the Minister for Health the EU funds his Department accesses; the plans he is putting in place to access these funds to a greater degree in view of Brexit; if he will outline initiatives he is pursuing to establish access to new funds in view of the challenge of Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8808/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government is clear and determined that all possible preparations will be made ahead of the UK leaving the EU. The Government is focused on protecting and advancing Ireland's interests before, during and after the negotiations. Our priorities are clear; minimising the impact on trade and the economy, protecting the Northern Ireland Peace Process, maintaining the Common Travel Area, and influencing the future of the European Union. A critical part of our work is in ensuring that our priorities are heard and understood across Europe, therefore engagement with our EU partners and with the EU institutions is critical. A programme of intense engagement at political and official level is continuing to ensure that the EU’s position for the forthcoming negotiations reflects our priorities. The Taoiseach has stated that we will make a strong case at EU level that Ireland will require support that recognises where Brexit represents a serious disturbance to the Irish economy. Accordingly, our preparations for Brexit include detailed engagement with the European Commission, where we have made them aware that Brexit is already having an impact on the Irish economy, and of the disproportionate consequences posed by Brexit to the Irish economy overall in comparison to other Member States.

The Department of Health has and will continue to access a range of EU funding and will seek to maximise opportunities in this context. The Department of Health is the Accountable Department for the health theme of the cross border INTERREG V Programme, which is managed by the Special EU Programme’s Body (SEUPB). The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has overall responsibility at central level for the INTERREG and PEACE programmes and the SEUPB is an agency under its remit. These cross border Programmes are 85% funded by the EU. I am pleased to note that following intensive discussions by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland and the Welsh European Funding Office, agreement was reached at the end of October on a safeguard clause that has enabled funding agreements to be put in place and Letters of Offer to issue to programme beneficiaries for both PEACE and the two INTERREG Programmes including the INTERREG V Programme. Now that the short term objective has been achieved, the medium term objective is to ensure the full and successful implementation of the programmes to 2020, during a period in which the UK may leave the EU and the UK allocation of European Regional Development Fund funding may no longer be available. The long term objective is to secure agreement to successor programmes post-2020 in the context of not just Brexit but also the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

In addition, European Investment Bank (EIB) funding is being provided to a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project to develop Primary Care Centres, in the form of an EIB loan taken out by the PPP company.

A range of supports are also being provided in the field of eHealth. These include support for the development of an eHealth architecture through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) that supports trans-European networks and infrastructures. Ireland was also successful in its recent application for CEF funding for ePrescribing and Summary Care Records.

My Department and/or its agencies are also involved in a number of European collaborative initiatives in the area of health such as Joint Actions and Joint Programming Initiatives and in the Horizon 2020 EU Research and Innovation Programme. EU funding and collaboration will become more important in view of Brexit and these issues will continue to be examined and pursued by my Department, including through centrally coordinated structures such as the Interdepartmental Group on Brexit and its workgroup on EU programmes.