Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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33. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the detail of his Department's engagement with the European Commission in respect of the future continuation of the European Structural and Investment Fund supports for cross-Border projects after Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21603/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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At the outset I would like to restate the Irish Government's firm commitment to the successful implementation of the current PEACE and INTERREG Programmes and to successor programmes post-2020.

As part of the contingency planning undertaken by the Government prior to the Brexit referendum, my Department identified the risks to these EU-funded programmes in the event of the UK voting to leave.  The first official level contacts following the referendum result took place on the day of the result itself and these contacts have continued since.

Shortly after the result of the referendum I met the then Northern Ireland Finance Minister, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, and I proposed that we would jointly write to the EU’s Regional Policy Commissioner, Corina Cretu, to highlight the importance we attach to the programmes.  The future of the programmes has also been raised by Ministers at meetings of the General Affairs Council devoted to Cohesion Policy.  In the margins of the Council meeting held under the Maltese Presidency I had a bilateral meeting with Commissioner Cretu about the programmes, and I subsequently wrote inviting her to visit the region and she has indicated her desire to do that. 

I was pleased, therefore, that the Irish Government's ambitions for the programmes was reflected in December's EU-UK Joint Report on Brexit.  Specifically, the report states that both parties would honour their commitments to the PEACE and INTERREG programmes under the current MFF and that possibilities for future support would be examined favourably.

December’s Communication from the Commission to the European Council that accompanied the Joint Progress Report went further.  In it the Commission not only acknowledged the great value of cross-border programmes in benefitting North South cooperation but also expressed its opinion that PEACE and INTERREG should continue beyond the current programming period.  It committed itself to proposing the continuation of the programmes, based on their existing management structure, in its proposal for the next MFF, which I am pleased to say it has now done.

My Department is continuing to work with the Commission to ensure that the vital work of these programmes in supporting North South cooperation under the Good Friday Agreement can continue post-Brexit.