Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2020
450. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the efforts that have been made to draw down and enable businesses to access the Next Generation EU fund of €750 billion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11348/20]
View answerThe Next Generation EU fund is a new €750 billion recovery instrument that will be made available to member states in the form of loans and grants. This recovery instrument will be embedded into a longer-term EU budget. It is expected to take the rest of 2020 to put the recovery and resilience facility in place, as it will have to be agreed in the European Council, the revised Multiannual Financial Framework then adopted by the European Parliament and finally the whole package ratified by the national parliaments in line with their constitutional requirements.
Ireland will benefit directly from the Next Generation EU instrument with grants worth almost €2 billion. €1.209 billion will come from the new Recovery and Resilience Facility, which will offer financial support for investments and reforms, including in relation to the green and digital transitions and the resilience of national economies, linking these to the EU priorities.
At present, Next Generation EU is a proposal. However, once it is agreed I will take all appropriate steps to enable businesses to access funding.
