Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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107. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 126 of 17 October 2017, the precise formula used in the calculation of the contribution to the EU budget; and if the nominal GDP growth rate for 2015, that is, 26% is factored into this. [45136/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Further to the PQ of 17 October on the calculation of Ireland’s EU budget contributions; Member State contributions to the EU Budget are calculated by the EU Commission in line with the provisions outlined in Own Resource Decision (ORD) Regulation (2014/335) which was ratified by all Member States in 2016. The ORD lays down three sources of EU revenue, or ‘Own Resources’:

- customs duties, including those on agricultural products, in respect of trade with non-member countries and levies on sugar production within the Union. These are collectively known as “Traditional Own Resources” (TOR).

- contributions based on VAT: The VAT base is calculated on the basis of a notional harmonised rate and reflects finally taxed expenditure across the EU. The base is capped at 50% of the member state’s GNI. A call-up rate is applied to produce a member states’ VAT-based contribution. This is currently 0.3%, except where otherwise noted in the Own Resources Decision.

- GNI-based contributions: the amount due is calculated by taking the same proportion of each Member State’s GNI. As the EU is not allowed to borrow, revenue must equal expenditure. The GNI-based resource is the Budget-balancing item; it covers the difference between total expenditure in the Budget and the revenue from the other resources, subject to the overall Own Resources ceiling.

Further details on the Regulation can be found at the following link:ORD 2014/335

The revisions to Ireland’s Gross National Income (GNI) for 2015, as published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in July 2016, have been factored into Ireland's EU budget contributions. To allow for the upward adjustment in the GNI figure for 2015, Ireland had to make an additional payment to the EU. This was made in June 2017.