Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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469.To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the total amount allocated and spent to date under the EU Brexit adjustment reserve; the specific projects to which funds were allocated; the amount of each allocation; the total amount allocated to Ireland under the reserve funding; the total amount expected to be drawn down by Ireland under this fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31283/24]

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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477.To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for a full breakdown, by year since 2020, and by department, of all moneys drawn down from the Brexit adjustment reserve, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31665/24]

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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478.To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount returned unspent from allocated or available moneys from the Brexit adjustment reserve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31666/24]

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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479.To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if there are plans in Europe to announce a new funding mechanism to extend or replace unspent Brexit adjustment reserve funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31667/24]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 469, 477, 478 and 479 together.

As a consequence of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, the EU put in place funding support for Member States to mitigate the resulting impacts, in the form of a Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR). The BAR provides support to counter the adverse economic, social, territorial and, environmental consequences of the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.

The BAR Regulation was formally adopted by the Council and Parliament in September and entered into force on 11 October 2021. Ireland’s BAR allocation is €802 million, the largest allocation for any Member State. Ireland has received its share in the form of pre-financing - approximately €361.7m for 2021, €276.7m in 2022, and €163.7m in 2023.

In order to be eligible for BAR funding, expenditure must fall within the BAR eligibility period for expenditure that runs from the 1st of January 2020 to the 31st of December 2023. Member states are required to submit their final claim to the Commission by end September 2024. 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.

There is no proposal for a new mechanism to extend or replace the BAR.

Following the BAR Regulation coming into force in October 2021, the Government allocated specific funding of €389 million in Budgets 2022 and 2023 across a number of sectors. Further to this, officials in my Department have engaged in a review exercise of Brexit related spending outside of that allocated in Budgets 2022 and 2023 which may qualify for inclusion in Ireland’s BAR claim. As a result, a total figure of approximately €900 million in Brexit spending has been identified for inclusion in Ireland's BAR claim.

The exact composition of Ireland's BAR claim will not be finalised until the claim is submitted to the EU Commission in September 2024. On that basis, as work is ongoing to finalise all Brexit-related spending to be included in the BAR claim, it is not possible at this time to confirm individual projects or final amounts of expenditure that will be included in the BAR claim.

That being said, the BAR fund has enabled the Government to make investments across a range of sectors to mitigate Brexit impact. These include for example: enterprise supports, measures to support fisheries and coastal communities, targeted supports for the agri-food sector, and checks and controls at Dublin Port and Rosslare Europort.

From this total BAR allocation received by Ireland, significant funding has been allocated to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This funding was allocated across the Department’s areas of responsibility, with a large proportion going to Fisheries and Aquaculture initiatives. Significant funding was also provided to increase operations in ports and address the customs implications of Brexit, including through funding provided for upgrade works in Rosslare port.