Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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123. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason Ireland has not drawn down any money from its allocation under the EU Recovery Fund approved in September 2021. [5776/23]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Recovery and Resilience Plan is funded under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) with Ireland in line to receive €915 million in grants over the lifetime of the Facility. 

The RRF is a performance-based instrument with payment contingent on the fulfilment of agreed milestones and targets.  Ireland’s Plan sets out sixteen investment projects and nine reform measures that will be supported covering the following priority areas:

- Advancing the Green Transition;

- Accelerating and Expanding Digital Reforms and Transformation;

- Social and Economic Recovery and Job Creation.

Implementation of the overall plan is well underway. As part of regulatory reporting requirements, Ireland has reported to the EU Commission on biannual progress in October 2021, April 2022 and October 2022.  The RRF grant will be paid to Ireland in five instalments.  The first payment request (FPR) process began in December with annual payment claims to follow until 2026.  The first step is an informal cooperation process between the Commission and Ireland. Upon completion of this informal process, Ireland will present a formal payment request to the Commission. The Commission will then carry out their formal assessment that consists of a thorough check of the satisfactory fulfilment of Ireland’s milestones and targets.  Following this, the first payment request is considered by Council after which the Commission processes the payment.