Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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38. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the outcome of discussions to date with the European Commission on the availability of Cohesion Funds post-2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11328/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Commission is expected to bring forward its proposals for the Multiannual Financial Framework in May 2018. This will set out the limits for the budget of the European Union post 2020 and proposals in relation to the different areas of EU activity, including Cohesion funding.

Without prejudice to the Commission proposals, or the negotiations that will follow, it is likely that there will be considerable budgetary pressures, not least because of the financial implications arising from Brexit, coupled with competition for funding to meet new EU objectives in areas such as migration, security and defence, climate change and digital transformation. 

The Deputy should be aware that the Government agreed a position paper on the MFF on 18 February. This paper notes that “in the next MFF, it will be important to ensure appropriate levels of spending on the traditional priorities such as agriculture and cohesion programmes.”

In addition, my Department also published a position paper on Cohesion Policy post 2020 in November 2017.  While this paper highlights the value placed by Ireland on Cohesion policy as an investment tool, it also raises issues which need to be addressed in the next round: the urgent need to simplify the unnecessary regulatory complexity surrounding the management of the EU Funded Programmes; the need for a common set of regulations across funds in order to leverage synergies; the need for increased flexibility to allow Member States target investment at areas of most relevance to them and the need for “proportionality” i.e. that Member States with a strong track-record of successfully implementing previous rounds of funding and who also provide co-financing, will only have to report on outcomes or results to the Commission.

My Department provided a comprehensive brief on the above matters to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach earlier this month. We will continue to brief the Committee periodically, in the normal manner.