Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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166. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the role his Department will play in the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility given the significant amount of funds ring-fenced for climate. [29557/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My Department has worked closely with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Finance and the Department of the Taoiseach in the preparation of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) as required to access funding under the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which is the centrepiece of Next Generation EU, the Union’s €750 billion response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The objective of the facility is to provide support to Member States to assist in their recovery from the COVID-19 crisis whilst also supporting the investments and reforms that are necessary to prepare economies for the green and digital future. The NRRP will enable us to move beyond the pandemic and to invest in the future in key areas such as climate action and the digital transition. Two projects from my Department were selected for inclusion in the under NRRP Priority 1: Advancing the Green Transition:

(i)Derisking a Low-Cost Residential Retrofit Loan Scheme; and

(ii) Enhanced Rehabilitation of Bord na Mona Peatlands previously harvested for commercial purposes

In addition, under this Priority, Ireland is committed to implementing reforms by progressing the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021.

These projects will support actions in respect of the climate and environmental priorities of the Union and the ‘do no significant harm’ principle, and contribute to achieving the 2030 climate and energy targets and climate neutrality by 2050, as well as other environmental goals. The draft Plan will now undergo a formal assessment by the European Commission before being submitted to the Council of the European Union.