Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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472.To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for a full breakdown for all moneys drawn down from Brexit adjustment reserve funding; how the moneys were spent; if any moneys announced in the seafood task force were returned unspent; if so, the amount in each of the years since 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31462/24]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The European Union’s Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) is a unique regulation established specifically to provide support to counter the adverse economic, social, territorial, and environmental consequences of the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. The BAR funding complements funding provided by the Government.

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. 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.

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.

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 potential 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. 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.

As the Deputy will be aware 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.

From the 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. The amount allocated to this sector has exceeded the minimum amount required by the EU.

The Deputy has referred in particular to the recommendations contained in the Seafood Task Force Report. The Seafood Task Force was established to examine the impacts of the TCA on our fishing sector and coastal communities and to recommend mitigation measures. On foot of the recommendations of the Task Force, funding was provided to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for 16 schemes for the seafood sector. These schemes provided support for development and restructuring to ensure Ireland has a seafood sector that is as profitable and sustainable as it possibly can be, and to identify new opportunities for jobs and economic activity in coastal communities. It is expected that these schemes will be included as part of the BAR claim.

In addition to the schemes recommended by the Task Force, additional funding was made available by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to support investment in local authority maintained piers and harbours, as well as for Inshore Marketing schemes, and it is also expected that these schemes will be included in the BAR claim.