Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 February 2017
242. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills the EU funds his Department accesses; the plans he is putting in place to access these funds to a greater degree in view of Brexit; if he will outline initiatives he is pursuing to establish access to new funds in view of the challenge of Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8804/17]
View answerMy Department accesses the European Social Fund (ESF, including the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI)), the European Globalisation Fund (EGF), PEACE IV and Erasmus+ funding. EU Funding is also available to researchers and institutes under the Horizon2020 programme.
The ESF operates within the Multi-Annual Financial Framework and the ESF allocations are agreed for the 2014-20 funding round. The relevant Operational Programme for Ireland, the “Programme for Employment, Inclusion & Learning 2014-2020” (PEIL) was approved by the European Commission in February 2015. The key areas chosen for the ESF investment in Ireland revolve around activation of the unemployed, social and labour market inclusion, education and youth employment. The total budget of the PEIL is €1.153 billion, with the ESF and the Exchequer each contributing €542.43 million and the EU YEI budget contributing €68.145 million. I anticipate that the entire ESF allocation will be drawn down in due course.
The EGF is an EU co-funding instrument to assist workers made redundant as a result of globalisation or due to the global financial and economic crisis. The EGF has a maximum annual budget of €150m for 2014-2020 which can be approved to fund 60% of the cost of Member State’s qualifying programmes.
To be eligible for assistance there must be at least 500 redundancies in a specific company (including suppliers/ downstream producers) in a 4 month period, or at least 500 redundancies in a specific sector in a 9 month period. However, in small labour markets or in exceptional circumstances, applications can be made where these criteria are not entirely met and the Member State can substantiate that there is a serious impact on employment and the local, regional or national economy. Ireland has made 10 successful EGF applications to date, of which 9 are closed and 1 is on-going. The EGF Managing Authority, located within my Department monitors redundancy situations on an on-going basis, to assess the potential for EGF assistance.
Horizon 2020 is the current EU framework programme for research and innovation and runs over seven years from 2014 – 2020. Horizon 2020 is open to applications from individual researchers, higher education institutes, research performing organisations, private industry including SMEs etc. and these bodies apply directly for the research grants. In the period from commencement of Horizon 2020 in January 2014 to September 2016, Ireland's drawdown is €336 million.
My Department will also be liable for expenditure under the Shared Education objective of the Peace IV programme (2014-2020). The outcome of the UK Referendum on EU membership has implications for the programme which is 85% funded by the EU. But the Irish Government has been clear about its commitment to the successful implementation of the programme and its ambition to see successor programmes post-2020.
As part of the Government's contingency planning for Brexit, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform identified the implications for the Peace and Interreg programmes as an issue that would have to be addressed in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Executive and the European Commission, and that process commenced immediately following the referendum result.
In October 2016 agreement was reached between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and Northern Ireland counterparts on the terms of Letters of Offer to programme beneficiaries. The objective was to Brexit-proof Letters of Offer to the greatest extent possible and to give programme beneficiaries assurance as to the legal and financial commitments they are entering into so they can plan for the future with confidence. On this basis it will be possible to proceed with the full implementation of the Peace IV programme on a firmer basis than would otherwise have been the case. My objective now is to see the current programme implemented fully and the Government’s intention is to secure agreement from the EU and the UK for successor programmes post-2020.
Erasmus+ is the EU Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport for 2014-2020. It aims to make a contribution to meeting the key challenges facing Europe to boost growth and jobs and to foster social equity and inclusion. Erasmus+ will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain work experience and volunteer abroad. The Programme aims to boost skills and employability, while supporting the modernisation of education, training and youth systems. Funding is provided for mobilities, organisational partnerships and policy work. The allocation for Ireland is €169m over the seven year duration. The funding for 2017 is in excess of €19m with significant increases expected annually to 2020. While the future participation of the UK in Erasmus+ is unknown until negotiations between the EU and UK are concluded, it is not envisaged that the funding allocations to Ireland will change during the present term of the scheme.
My Department will continue to monitor drawdown of EU funds under the various EU programmes and will seek to maximise opportunities to claim any new funding that becomes available as a result of Brexit.
In addition, the Action Plan for Education 2017 includes an action to develop a strategy to attract world-leading researchers to Ireland in the context of Brexit. This specifically relates to programmes and awards funded by the Irish Research Council. Funding of €1.5m was provided in Budget 2017 to support this work.
