Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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72. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the projects that will be funded by his Department under the INTERREG and PEACE programmes in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49193/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The 2014-2020 EU-funded PEACE and INTERREG programmes will invest over half a billion euros in the border region of Ireland and Northern Ireland over the course of the programming period. 

The programmes are managed by the Special EU Programmes Body, one of the North South implementation bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement.  My Department is joint sponsor Department for the Body and the two programmes, along with the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland, while various sectoral Departments, north and south, act as accountable Departments for funding.

The €270 million PEACE IV Programme is now 83% committed, with 88 projects approved for funding, included groups of projects under the Local Authority Peace Action Plans.  Projects in the fields of Shared Education, Children and Young People, Shared Spaces and Services, and Building Positive Relations will all be delivering real benefits on the ground in 2019.  The SEUPB is currently assessing funding applications for further Shared Spaces projects.

The €282 million INTERREG Programme is also making good progress, with 87% of funding committed to 32 projects in the fields of research and innovation, environment, sustainable transport and health and social care.  In addition, the SEUPB is currently assessing applications under the Sustainable Transport priority.

The Irish Government is firmly committed to the successful implementation of the current PEACE and INTERREG Programme and to a successor programme post-2020.  In that regard, I am pleased that the draft Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration give effect to last December's Joint Report in which the EU and UK undertook to honour their commitments to the current programmes and to examine favourably the possibilities for future support.  I also welcome the Commission's proposal for a special new PEACE PLUS programme post-2020 to build on and continue the work of both PEACE and INTERREG.