Written answers

Tuesday, 18 May 2021

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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294. To ask the Minister for Finance the breakdown of Ireland's annual contribution to the European Union. [25699/21]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Ireland's contribution to the EU Budget is an obligation of EU membership and is a charge on the Central Fund under national legislation. The contribution formula for the EU Budget is comprised of Traditional Own Resources (customs duties), a VAT-based payment and a residual balancing component paid in accordance with each Member State's share of EU Gross National Income (GNI).

These contributions are known as Own Resources and include:

Traditional Own Resources

Ireland’s custom duties are paid to the EU two months in arrears in accordance with EU rules. Customs paid to the EU Budget amounted to c. €235 million in 2020.

VAT related Payments

Ireland's VAT-based resource payments amounted to c. €292 million in 2020.

GNI related Payments

Ireland’s GNI payments amounted to c. €2,043 million in 2020. 

Total contributions to the EU budget in 2020 amounted to €2,569,193,606.66.

My Department currently estimates that Ireland’s contributions to the EU Budget are expected to rise further during the period of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, from approximately €3.25 billion in 2021, to approximately €3.95 billion in 2027, an average of €3.6 billion per annum.

Ireland’s contributions to the EU Budget are published annually as part of my Department's Budgetary Statistics.

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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295. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of EU schemes and projects Ireland contributes to; the list of EU schemes and projects Ireland contributes to; the amount contributed to EU schemes and projects in each of the years 2015 to 2020 by Ireland; and the projected contribution to EU schemes and projects in each year between 2021 and 2026 by Ireland. [25700/21]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Finance is responsible for making Ireland’s contributions to the EU Budget, as part of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The MFF is a seven year framework regulating the EU's annual budget. It consists of approximately 45 individual programmes, not including administrative expenditure for the European Parliament, Commission, Council and other EU agencies. The MFF is broken down into seven Headings of expenditure - Single Market, Innovation and Digital; Cohesion, Resilience and Values; Natural Resources and Environment; Migration and Border Management; Security and Defence; Neighbourhood and the World; and European Administration. Any bilateral contributions to other EU programmes, outside of the EU Budget/MFF made by a Government Department are the responsibility of that Department.

Contributions to the EU budget are general and are not assigned to specific programmes. Ireland’s contributions to the EU Budget for the years 2015 – 2020 are as follows:

Year Contribution €m
2015 1,952
2016 2,023
2017 2,016
2018 2,519
2019 2,432
2020 2,569

Ireland’s contributions to the 2021-2027 MFF are expected to rise over the coming period, from approximately €3.25 billion in 2021, to approximately €3.95 billion in 2027, an average of €3.6 billion per annum.

On 21 July 2020, Heads of State and Government reached agreement on the €1.074 trillion Post-2020 MFF and the supplementary €750 billion recovery plan “Next Generation EU” (NGEU), totalling €1.82 trillion. At this time of crisis, the Covid recovery funds are needed now, and will be received by Member States up to 2026, but will be paid back over 30+ years. Repayments to the NGEU, will be made alongside the MFF, but are not expected to begin for a number of years yet. The contribution Ireland will make has yet to be determined and will depend on our share of the overall EU budget over the course of those repayments.  They will also depend on what new Own Resources, if any,  are agreed at EU level. It is not possible to give an accurate overall figure at this time.

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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296. To ask the Minister for Finance if Ireland provides funding to EU defence initiatives and schemes; if so, the amount in total Ireland has contributed to these schemes; and when these contributions began. [25701/21]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Finance is responsible for making Ireland’s contributions to the EU Budget, as part of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The European Defence Fund (EDF) supports competitive collaborative defence projects through research and development. The overall value of the EDF under the MFF for 2021-2027 is €7bn. 

Contributions to the EU budget are general and are not assigned to specific programmes. Therefore it is not possible to say how much Ireland contributes to particular programmes under the MFF that have defence aspects. 

Any bilateral contributions to other EU programmes outside of the MFF, including defence-related programmes, made by a Government Department, such as the Department of Defence or the Department of Foreign Affairs, are the responsibility of those Departments. The Department  of Finance  does not have details of those contributions.

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