Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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561. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department will be making applications to the recently announced €100 million fund under the Connecting Europe Facility. [11628/19]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The current call for proposals for the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Transport projects has €100 million of co-funding available for successful applications. This sum is broken down into two funding priorities: €65 million of this funding is for actions related to projects on the comprehensive TEN-T network, while the remaining €35 million is for projects concerning reductions in rail freight noise. Further information on the specific funding objectives of this call is available on the website of the European Commission at the following link:

The call is open to public and private bodies from all EU Member States. My Department will work with, and aims to provide guidance to, any potential Ireland based applicants. The Department is required to review and sign off on applications of any Irish entities submitting applications under the Call.

The deadline for submitting an application is 24 April 2019. My Department is aware from preliminary discussions that a number of State bodies have expressed interest in submitting an application under this call. It is possible that other Irish organisations may be intending on submitting applications but have not yet made contact with the Department.It is not envisaged that my Department will be making an application in its own right under the current call.

All submitted applications will be assessed and evaluated by the European Commission in conjunction with independent external experts, and co-funding will be awarded on a competitive basis to successful applicants. Rates of co-funding vary depending on the type of project, in line with the specific criteria for eligible projects outlined in this call for proposals.