Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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672. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 267 of 1 December 2016, if the ex-ante evaluation was completed in December 2016; if not, when; the quarter in which it will be completed in 2017; if the evaluation will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17864/17]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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673. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 246 of 16 June 2016, the number of the seven ex-ante assessment steps provided which have been completed to date from the financial instruments in question (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17865/17]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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674. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of member states that have implemented a financial instrument for the current rural development programme period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17866/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 672 to 674, inclusive, together.

The contract for an Ex-ante Assessment for the use of Financial Instruments (FIs) within Ireland’s European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Operational Programmes was awarded to Indecon on 31 August, 2016. A draft report of the Ex ante assessment examining all 7 required steps was completed and sent to the Steering Committee on 15 December 2016. A presentation on the draft report of the ex-ante assessment was also given to the Steering Committee on 22 December 2016. Following this presentation, written comments and suggestions from the Steering Committee members were sent to the evaluator and a revised report was submitted on the 3 March 2017. The Steering Committee have requested further clarification on a number of issues addressed in the revised report and are awaiting a response from the Evaluator.

Once an ex-ante assessment is complete a decision can be made on whether or not to implement a FI and the possible budgetary implications. If a decision is made to proceed with FIs then an agreement must be reached between the Department and any other potential stakeholders/financial institutions on a clear investment strategy that is developed from the gaps, if any, identified in the ex-ante assessment. Following this, an appropriate amendment would have to be made to the Rural Development Programme. The summary findings and conclusions of the Ex ante assessment must be published within 3 months of their date of finalisation and the final report will be submitted to the RDP Monitoring Committee for information.

To date Estonia is the only EU Member state that have implemented a Financial Instrument for the current RDP period. Further Details on this FI can be found at: .