The European Commission has approved €115.5 million in funding for Ireland after the government “satisfactorily completed” 17 EU milestones and targets.
After the Covid crisis, the European Commission created a huge pot of money – €650 billion in grants and loans – by borrowing from the markets, essentially issuing bonds on behalf of the EU.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) was the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU, a regeneration programme designed to kickstart Europe’s wounded post-covid economy.
Ireland finally asked for the first tranche of money in 2023. Now the second round of funding has been approved by the European Commission.
“The payment request supports six reforms and five investments that will benefit citizens and businesses in Ireland, focusing on enterprise emissions reduction, sustainable transport, carbon taxation, digitalisation in schools, businesses, and public administration, as well as ICT skills, healthcare, pensions, and housing”, the European Commission announced today.
Flagship measures out forward by the Irish government include:
- Simplifying Ireland’s supplementary pension system: “Ireland has introduced legislation to expand withdrawal and transfer options and equalise the tax treatment of employer contributions across different pension schemes.”
- Investment to support industry decarbonisation: “Ireland is accelerating the decarbonisation of the enterprise sector with the launch of the Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund, targeting manufacturing enterprises. This fund will provide support for carbon-reducing technologies, energy monitoring systems, and research and innovation.”
Following today’s “preliminary assessment”, the European Commission’s recommending to grant Ireland go-ahead will be sent to a special committee:
“The Economic and Financial Committee (EFC…has four weeks to deliver its opinion. The payment to Ireland can take place following the EFC’s opinion, and the adoption of a payment decision by the Commission.”
The Irish recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures.
In total, Ireland was allocated €1.15 billion in grants by the EU.
“Following its assessment of the payment request, submitted by Ireland on 23 December 2024, the Commission has preliminarily concluded that Ireland has satisfactorily completed the 17 milestones and targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision for the second instalment.”