Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 February 2014
138. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the way he will characterise the draw down rate for the LIFE + programme 2007-2013 by Ireland; if he will put this sum in context with reference to the draw down by other EU Member States. [8447/14]
View answerThe EU LIFE+ Programme 2007-2013 is a dedicated EU funding instrument for the environment, with the aim of contributing to the implementation, updating and development of EU environmental policy and legislation by co-financing pilot or demonstration projects. The Programme is administered directly by the European Commission with funding allocated to projects on merit in accordance with established criteria and following a rigorous assessment process. The table shows that in the period 2007 to 2012 seven Irish projects out of twenty one submitted qualified for funding under LIFE+, resulting in an aggregate EU contribution of almost €8.5 million. Anecdotally, we understand that this success rate is broadly similar to the average achieved across all Member States.
Irish applications under LIFE+ Programme 2007-2013
|
Year |
No. of applications submitted |
No. of successful applications |
Total Budget (successful applications) |
EU Contribution |
|
2007 |
3 |
2 |
€3,266,640 |
€1,652,804 |
|
2008 |
3 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
2009 |
5 |
2 |
€4,147,154 |
€2,226,447 |
|
2010 |
2 |
1 |
€3,157,910 |
€1,562,672 |
|
2011 |
4 |
1 |
€2,225,205 |
€1,108,872 |
|
2012 |
4 |
1 |
€2,597,685 |
€1,941,188 |
|
2013 |
13 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Total |
34 |
7 |
€15,394,594 |
€8,491,983 |
Applications submitted under the 2013 call for proposals are still being assessed by the European Commission. Thirteen Irish applications were submitted under that call, with three of these reaching the final stage of the award process. This significant increase in Irish applications is due partly to a concerted effort by my Department in recent years to raise awareness of the programme and to provide practical support to project applicants. A final decision on the successful applicants under the 2013 call will be made in April.
For the duration of the LIFE+ Programme, Ireland has had an annual national allocation of some €4 million for which matching funding is required. The aim of national allocations, which are based on criteria set out in the LIFE+ Regulation, is to ensure a proportionate distribution of projects throughout Member States. In its Mid-term Review of the LIFE+ Regulation for the period 2007-2009, the European Commission noted Ireland’s percentage use of its national allocation to be 41%. Similarly, the majority of other Member States failed to draw down their full national allocation in that period. The Mid-term Review also noted that the greatest number of applications was received from Italy, Spain and Germany, with the total amount awarded to beneficiaries in these Member States totalling some €98 million in 2008, almost half of the total LIFE+ budget available in that year. A full database of successful LIFE+ applications is available on the European Commission’s website athttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm.
