Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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535. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of Ireland's submission of a national plan under the recovery and resilience fund; if Ireland has submitted a draft plan; if so, the feedback the EU Commission has given on the plan including on the issue of the way in which the draft addresses Ireland's country specific recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14985/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland is expected to receive €853 million in grants under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) 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 (NRRP) 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 and the Department of Finance, is responsible for preparing the Plan with input from other Departments as appropriate, and for ensuring coordination across Government. 

As part of this process, Irish officials are engaged in ongoing and detailed dialogue with their European Commission counterparts, while the Minister for Finance and I will be meeting Economy Commissioner Gentiloni.

The aim of the RRF is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions.

Accordingly, Ireland’s plan will have a particular focus on green and digital transition, as well as supporting economic recovery and job creation.  

National plans must also strike a balance between reforms and investments.  These must seek to address challenges identified in the relevant Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) received by Ireland in 2019 and 2020, which arise as part of the European Semester process, and all of these matters fall to be addressed in the context of the ongoing, productive dialogue among officials. For 2021, Ireland’s National Reform Programme will be integrated into our National Recovery and Resilience Plan.