Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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188. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the State's resilience and recovery plan; and the way in which the plan will be democratically scrutinised. [8055/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) lies at the heart of the Union’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the Facility is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions.

Ireland is expected to receive €853 million in grants under the Facility in 2021 and 2022. A further set of grants is to be allocated in 2023, taking into account economic developments between now and then.

In order to access this funding, Ireland must develop a National Recovery and Resilience Plan for approval by the European Union. The Plan must set out the reforms and investments to be supported by the Facility and must be submitted to the European Commission no later than 30 April 2021.

My Department, working together with the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Finance and the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, is responsible for preparing the Plan with input from other Departments as necessary, and for ensuring coordination across Government. This involves detailed engagement with the European Commission which is underway.

A public consultation process is underway. A consultation document has been published on gov.ie/consultation. The consultation process will run until 22 February 2021.