Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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113. To ask the Minister for Finance the total value of Ireland’s contribution to the Act in Support of Ammunition Production, intended to support the EU’s defence industry and to assist member states to increase their ammunition and missile production and to deliver ammunition and missiles to Ukraine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25961/24]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a principle of “universality” with regard to contributions to the EU budget (Multiannual Financial Framework), the current round of which amounts to €1.2 trillion over seven years from 2021 to 2027. This principle means that each member state makes its contribution to the entire budget rather than individual contributions to each individual spending area.

Notwithstanding this universality principle, to assist the FINPERT Committee during a recent discussion, the Department of Finance representative informally extracted the ASAP fund from the entire EU Budget and then applied current levels of Irish EU Budget contributions to it. The figure supplied on this basis was €12 million and the Department of Finance is satisfied the figure is as exact as it is possible to be.

Member states' contributions to the EU Budget are calculated based on what is known as the Own Resources system, which works out amounts due from member states based on a number of factors, the most significant element being Gross National Income (GNI). These amounts fluctuate based on changes in GNI and therefore the €12 million figure must remain an estimate as the ASAP programme is still in the process of being implemented, and in particular given the principle of universality.