Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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271. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department has conducted an up to date assessment of the impact that the uncertainty regarding Brexit will have on the PEACE funds which is important in Border areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37653/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy that I fully appreciate the uncertainty that Brexit has caused, not just for the PEACE programme but also for INTERREG. Over the last quarter of a century the two programmes have made an enormous contribution to cross-Border cooperation, and they remain important drivers of regional development in a cross-Border context. Last December I travelled to Derry where, along with the then Northern Ireland Finance Minister, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, I had the opportunity to see the impact that the Programmes are having on the ground.

Even before that, however, I was pleased to be able to announce that agreement had been reached between my Department and the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland on a safeguard clause for funding agreements with programme beneficiaries. The objective of the agreement is to Brexit-proof Letters of Offer to the greatest extent possible and to give programme beneficiaries assurance as to the legal and financial commitments they are entering into, so they can plan for the future with confidence.

Now that that first objective has been achieved, my medium term objective is to ensure the successful implementation of the current programmes out to 2020, through a period during which the UK is expected to leave the EU. My longer term objective is secure agreement for successor programmes post-2020. Work is under way in my Department to address these medium and long term objectives.