Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Ireland will receive just over €1 billion from the EU’s Brexit Adjustment Reserve, the biggest single allocation for any Member State, representing just over 20% of the total funding available.

Approximately 80% of funding will be paid to Member States as pre-financing in three tranches over the period 2021 to 2023. I am pleased that on 6 December 2021 the European Commission approved the payment of Ireland’s first tranche of €361.5 million, making us the first Member State to receive such approval.

The purpose of the Reserve is to help counter the adverse economic and social consequences of Brexit in the sectors and Member States that are worst affected. In Ireland's case, funding will be directed at areas such as enterprise supports; supports for the agri-food and fisheries sectors, reskilling and retraining; and checks and controls at our ports and airports.

To qualify for BAR funding, expenditure must be incurred between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023 and a direct link to the adverse consequences of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU must be demonstrated.

The allocation of BAR resources is being aligned with the annual Estimates process, which has been the vehicle for allocating Brexit resources since the UK Referendum in 2016.