Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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518. To ask the Minister for Health the projects and programmes with his Department which have been allocated funding under the EU's Recovery and Resilience Programme; the funds drawn down to date in each instance; the profiled drawdown in each of the forthcoming years of the programme; the steps he is taking to ensure that projects and programmes are completed within the specified timeframe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37789/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland will receive approximately €1.15 billion in funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) in respect of measures included in our National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP).

The NRRP is pre-funded through the estimates process and the National Development Plan. RRF allocated funding is then recouped from the EU after the agreed milestones and targets within the Plan have been achieved and verified.

The RRF allocation will be paid to Ireland in five instalments. Following the successful submission of our first payment request, Ireland received €324m in July 2024 from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility.

The Department of Health has two projects included in the NRRP:

• Project 2.6 Suite of e-health projects – ePharmacy
• Project 3.9 Health

• Department of Health projects under 2.6 include the (i) ePharmacy Programme (Hospital Medicines Management System component), and (ii) the Integrated Financial Management System. The indicative allocation for these projects is €75m.
• While there is no allocation set against the reform projects under 3.9, failure to meet their targets will result in financial corrections and impact on overall RRF funding. These reform projects are tied to the 2019 and 2020 Country Specific Recommendations determined through the European Semester process. Department of Health projects under this heading include the (i) Chronic Diseases Management Programme, (ii) Operationalisation of Community Health Networks, and (iii) Sláintecare Consultant Contract.
  
  More information on each of these five projects can be provided to the Deputy by my Department, if required.
  
  As of September 2024, three milestones have been achieved for the Department of Health projects, i.e.:
  1. award of the contracts for ePharmacy systems;
  2. completion of building and configuration of the integrated financial management system (funded project); and
  3. entry into operation of Sláintecare Consultant Contract (non-funded).

• The North-South, EU and International Unit coordinates reporting requirements under the NRRP for Department of Health Projects.
  
  Projects leads and coordinators attend regular meetings, including technical meetings with the Commission, and the quarterly Delivery Committee on the NRRP (at Assistant Secretary Level.) Accountable Departments are obliged to provide appropriate reports on a regular basis through the RRF IT system.
• For all funded programmes, appropriate governance is in place to ensure the appropriate oversight is there to ensure programme schedules and funding allocates are adhered to.