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. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; and Revenue are likely to account for a significant amount of that €0.7 billion figure. It should be noted that, in addition to all of the above, the Government also provided significant funding to prepare for Brexit prior to the BAR eligibility period.

The exact makeup of Ireland's BAR claim will not be decided until the claim is submitted in September 2024. My Department continues to review and assess all spending identified as Brexit-related for inclusion in the final BAR claim. Because this work is ongoing, and because further funding can be considered for allocation during the remaining months of 2023, it is not possible at this time to confirm final amounts of expenditure in any sector.

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. Initially €5.47 billion was allocated to the reserve while Ireland’s initial allocation was €1.165 billion. Following agreement with the EU Commission to transfer €150 million to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Ireland’s allocation from the reserve is €1.015 billion or approximately 30 per cent of the overall BAR fund, following transfers by other Member States to their National Recovery and Resilience Plans.

The application for BAR funding must set out the negative impacts of the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union and demonstrate how the measures carried out under the reserve alleviate the adverse consequences. To be eligible for funding, expenditure must fall within the BAR reference period for eligibility which runs from 1^stJanuary 2020 to 31^stDecember 2023. Since the BAR Regulation came into force in October 2021, the Government has allocated BAR funding of €389 million in Budget 2022 and Budget 2023 across a range of sectors to mitigate the impact of Brexit. This is set out in the table below. As the BAR eligibility period for expenditure ends on the 31^stDecember 2023, no BAR funding will be allocated in Budget 2024 for 2024.

Reflecting the potentially heterogenous impact of Brexit across Member States, under the BAR Member States were given sufficient flexibility to design measures and allocate expenditure most appropriate to their own situation. The exception to this was in respect of fisheries where a minimum amount of expenditure was ringfenced to support the sector. €55.6 million was to be allocated to fisheries from Ireland's overall BAR allocation initially. Following the agreement to transfer €150 million to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the minimum amount to be allocated for fisheries and marine is now €48.5 million.

To date, my Department has provided sanction to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for approximately €287 million of BAR expenditure to support the Fisheries and Marine sector in response to the adverse impact of Brexit. This exceeds the minimum amount required by the EU. The relevant fishing and marine measures sanctioned by my Department to date include, but are not limited to:

• Temporary Fleet Tie-up schemes,

• Brexit Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme,

• the Brexit Sustainable Aquaculture Growth Scheme, and

• a Capital support scheme for the seafood processing sector.

In addition to the allocations made in Budget 2022 and Budget 2023, my Department has been engaging with other Departments to identify and review other Brexit-related spending outside of that allocated under Budget 2022 and 2023, which may qualify for inclusion including in the area of fisheries and the marine. Work is ongoing to verify this Brexit-related funding allocated across 2020 to 2023 for inclusion in Ireland’s final BAR claim to be submitted in September 2024.