Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 April 2023
43. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the total investment that each NUT region will receive under the ERDF programme in both EU and Exchequer co-funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18501/23]
View answerAcross the EU, the European Commission classifies regions as either being a “Less Developed Region”, a "Region in Transition” or a “More Developed Region”, based on their GDP per head of population relative to the EU27 Average. The Northern and Western Region is classified as a “Region in Transition”, and the other two regions in Ireland, the Southern region and the Eastern and Midlands region, are classified as "More Developed". Regions classified as "Regions in Transition" like the Northern and Western benefit from a higher co-financing rate, where the EU provides 60% of the funding for programmes, whilst More Developed regions get a co-financing rate of 40%.
Ireland was allocated €395,716,021 in ERDF funding. The formal notification of this allocation from the Commission was based on category of region only– details at NUTS II level were not provided. From this allocation, the Northern and Western region, Ireland’s only region in transition, was allocated €110,238,539. The Southern and the Eastern and Midland regions were allocated €285,477,482.
In recognition of the "Region in Transition" status of the Northern and Western region, I made a decision, in consultation with the Regional Assemblies, to transfer €20m in ERDF resources from the two "More Developed" regions to the Northern and Western region. My Department, in conjunction with the Regional Assemblies, engaged with the Commission on this matter and secured their agreement on this use of ERDF funds. This increased the allocation in the Northern and Western region to €130,238,539.
The funding available to Ireland in the period 2021-2027 under the two ERDF Programmes, including technical assistance, is set out in the table below.
|
ERDF |
Exchequer |
Total |
|
|
SEM |
€265,477,482 |
€398,216,224 |
€663,693,706 |
|
NWRA |
€130,238,539 |
€86,825,693 |
€217,064,232 |
|
€395,716,021 |
€485,041,917 |
€880,757,938 |
