Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 December 2020
53. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of work undertaken by the Northern and Western Regional Assembly in view of the European Commission official downgrade of the Northern and Western region from a More Developed Region to a Transition Region post-2020; and the way in which he is planning to administer the estimated €1 billion in European Structural Funds apportioned for the period 2021 to 2027. [40539/20]
View answerIreland will have access to the following EU funds, the administration of which are governed by the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR), for the 2021 to 2027 programming period:
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) – under the aegis of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform;
- European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) - under the aegis of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science;
- European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) - under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine;
- Just Transition Fund (JTF) – under the aegis of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications;
- Asylum and Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF); Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI); and the Internal Security Fund (ISF) – under the aegis of the Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth,
In relation to ERDF, Ireland is likely to receive €350m in funding for the period 2021 – 2027 co-financed by the exchequer, and for transition regions that involves 60% EU funding with 40% matched Exchequer funding. I have acknowledged that the northern and western region of Ireland has been designated as a 'Region in Transition' and in light of this, I have recently announced that the Northern Western Regional Assembly will act as Managing Authority for the Operational Programme under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for this region. Work on the drafting of the Operational Programme is now underway.
The Northern Western Regional Assembly (NWRA) has already played an active role to date in the process of programming for the next round of ERDF, in conjunction and cooperation with officials from my Department.
The NWRA are represented on the Partnership Process Steering Group (PPSG), which guides and advises on the programming of all of the Common Provision Regulation Funds, through the development process of the Partnership Agreement for the period 2021 – 2027.
The Steering Group oversaw the development of a Needs Analysis by Indecon Economic Consultants, which specifically looked at regional development needs. This report includes a chapter focused on the needs of the Northern Western region. This chapter was included in the report in recognition of the change in the region's status under the European Commission's methodology to a region in transition, and in order to examine in more detail the specific challenges faced in the region.
The NWRA and the other two Regional Assemblies are also part of a working group, which launched a consultation process to inform the selection of priorities for the use of EU cohesion funding for the next period. As part of this consultation a webinar was held on the 28th of July, breakout sessions were organised on a regional basis, and this included a focus on the main priorities of the individual Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies.
The working group is currently finalising a report, the primary purpose of which is to present the findings and analysis from the public consultation submissions, including the qualitative messages from the national workshop event conducted on 28th July. This report, along with the Needs Analysis, adopted by the PPSG in July, will inform the ERDF programming for 2021 – 2027
