Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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39. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the allocations to date from the Brexit adjustment reserve; the Departments to which funds were allocated; the purpose of the allocation; the funds remaining to be dispersed; and his intentions to do so. [22041/23]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The European Union’s Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR), provides support to counter the adverse economic, social, territorial and, environmental consequences of the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.

The application for BAR funding must set out the negative impacts of the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union and how the measures carried out under the Fund alleviate the adverse consequences. The Government has therefore, over a series of budgets, allocated BAR funding across a number of impacted sectors in order to mitigate those adverse effects of Brexit and to adapt to regulatory changes.

Following agreement to transfer €150 million to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Ireland’s allocation from the reserve will be €1.015 billion. This transfer is to be made from Ireland’s overall BAR allocation. Ireland’s allocation now represents approximately 30% of the overall BAR fund, following transfers by other Member States to their National Recovery and Resilience Plans.

The Government has made significant allocations across a range of sectors, both before and during the 4-year BAR period. In order to be eligible for BAR funding, the expenditure must fall within the BAR eligibility period for expenditure runs from the 1st of January 2020 to the 31st of December 2023.

Following the BAR Regulation coming into force in October 2021, specific funding of €389 million was provided in Budgets 2022 and 2023 across a number of sectors. This was allocated as follows:

Further funding can also be considered for allocation over the remainder of 2023. This would include consideration of funding in relation to permanent infrastructure at Rosslare port required for customs and SPS checks.

Officials in my Department are currently engaging in a review exercise of Brexit related spending, from the 1st of January 2020 to the end of December 2023, for possible inclusion in Ireland’s BAR claim to the EU Commission in September 2024. This involves engaging with Departments on spending since 2020 outside of that allocated under Budgets 2022 and 2023 which may qualify for inclusion in the BAR claim. A figure of approximately €0.7 billion has been identified in this regard.

This work is ongoing and the exact makeup of Ireland's BAR claim will not be decided until the claim is submitted in September 2024. It should be noted that in addition to the above, the Government also provided significant funding to prepare for Brexit prior to the BAR eligibility period.