Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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59. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the amount of EU funding made available to Ireland under the Youth Guarantee; the reason this has not been drawn down to date; when it will be drawn down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45966/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) is one of the main EU financial resources to support the implementation of the EU Youth Guarantee.  It is integrated into European Social Fund (ESF) programming as a dedicated priority axis within the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020 (PEIL).  The specific YEI allocation for Ireland of €68m is matched by equal amounts from our ESF allocation and from the Exchequer, giving an overall allocation of €204m.   

All ESF activities, including YEI activities, are fully funded up-front by the Exchequer with the EU (ESF/YEI) funding being claimed in arrears.  While no payment application has been made to date to the Commission under the PEIL, it is expected that the funding will be fully drawn down.

The ESF authorities must be designated in accordance with the EU regulations prior to making the first payment application.  This designation is based on the opinion of the Independent Audit Body (IAB) which must be satisfied across a range of criteria that systems are in place to allow the ESF authorities to perform their required functions.  These systems requirements include the provision of a computerised accounting and information system for EU funds to meet the 2014-2020 functionality requirements. The final phase of the IT system went live at the end of March 2018 and the consultants retained to conduct an independent review of the eCohesion IT System so as to provide assurance that the system is sufficient to meet the Designation Criteria, submitted their final report in September 2018.   The ESF authorities have had extensive engagement with the IAB on the designation process which is expected to conclude very shortly.  

At the same time, preparations are being finalised for the submission of a first payment application to the Commission and the ESF authorities will ensure that sufficient payment applications are submitted to fully drawdown the EU funding allocations.