Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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78. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment 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. [37785/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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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 annual estimates process and the National Development Plan. The RRF allocated funding is then recouped from the EU after agreed milestones and targets within the Plan have been achieved and verified.

The 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. with our second payment request of some €116m scheduled for submission before the end of the year. Subsequent payment requests are scheduled as follows:

1. IE 3rd Payment Request - €240 million

2. IE 4th Payment Request - €250 million

3. IE 5th Payment Request - €225 million

My Department was successful in securing funding for two projects under the EU Recovery and Resilience Programme, details of which are set out in the Table below.

The Enhanced Decommissioning Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme is undertaken by Bord na Móna to rehabilitate 32,779 hectares across 82 bogs previously used for energy production. It is estimated that this scheme will result in the net reduction of 3.3 million tonnes of CO₂ -eq over the period to 2050 and enrich the State’s natural capital as well as providing employment opportunities as part of a Just Transition in the Midlands.

My Department works closely with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (the Scheme Regulator) and Bord na Móna to ensure all milestones and targets of the NRRP are met. This involves regular meetings, reporting, maintenance of a risk register, and site visits. One Milestone and one Target in relation to this project was included in Ireland’s first payment request.

The Pilot Energy & Decarbonisation Pathfinder project is directed to five HSE sites to provide learnings, experience, and insights to the HSE for the decarbonisation of their national estate portfolio and pursuant to public sector energy and emissions targets. The five sites include Lusk Community Nursing Unit, Baltinglass Community Nursing Unit, Clonakilty Community Nursing Unit, Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.

This project will support development of the existing SEAI Pathfinder Programme in supporting and mobilising national scaled-up levels of energy and decarbonisation retrofit in the public sector, in line with Ireland’s targets under the EU's Energy Efficiency and Energy Performance of Buildings Directives, and in line with the Public Sector Climate Action Strategy.

The remaining milestones and targets for my Department’s projects will be included in Ireland’s third, fourth and fifth payment requests.