Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2023
169. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the annual contribution to the EU by the Exchequer in each of the past ten years; the estimated contribution forecast for the whole of 2023; the income from the EU to the Exchequer in each of these years; the estimate for this year; Ireland's expected net contribution to the EU over the next ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50783/23]
View answerThe annual net contribution of Ireland to the EU Budget (payments) and income (receipts), from 2013 until 2021 is outlined in full in Table 1 below.
Table 2 outlines Ireland’s actual gross contribution (payment) for 2022 together with current forecasts for the gross contribution (payment) for the remaining years until the end of the current Multiannual Financial Framework period which ends in 2027.
Data on Ireland’s EU Budget receipts is published annually for the previous year in the Department of Finance Budgetary Statistics, before the end of each year.
For instance, 2022 receipt data will be published before the end of 2023. My Department is currently finalising the collation of the receipts data for 2022 and, it is not yet possible to confirm Ireland’s receipts from the EU Budget for 2022, but this information will be published by my Department before the end of the year.
My Department does not forecast EU Budget receipts due to the inherent difficulties in doing so, as receipts are contingent on a number of factors such as project implementation. That said, my Department anticipates that Ireland’s receipts for the remainder of the Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027) will be in the range of approximately €2 - 2.5 billion each year.
Table 1. EU Budget receipts and payments 2013-2021
|
Year |
Receipts from EU Budget €m |
Payments to EU Budget €m |
Net Receipts €m |
|
2013 |
1673 |
1726 |
-53 |
|
2014 |
1420 |
1686 |
-266 |
|
2015 |
1783 |
1952 |
-169 |
|
2016 |
1622 |
2023 |
-401 |
|
2017 |
1779 |
2016 |
-237 |
|
2018 |
2006 |
2519 |
-513 |
|
2019 |
2000 |
2432 |
-432 |
|
2020 |
2116 |
2569 |
-453 |
|
2021 |
2543 |
3507 |
-964 |
Table 2. EU Budget contributions - actual payment 2022 and payment forecasts 2023-2027
|
2022 (€m) |
2023 (€m) |
2024 (€m) |
2025 (€m) |
2026 (€m) |
2027 (€m) |
|
3557 |
3950 |
3950 |
4125 |
4325 |
4500 |
Based on my Department’s forecasts, Ireland’s contribution to the EU Budget will continue to grow over the remainder of the Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027). This is dependent on a number of factors, in particular Ireland’s economic performance which is reflected in the system of EU Budget contributions based to a considerable extent on the existing Gross National Income own resource.
In addition, a potential midterm revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (2021-2027), which is currently under negotiation at EU level, would likely result in increased expenditure over the remainder of the of the current Multiannual Financial Framework and could impact on Member States' EU contributions.
Beyond 2028, agreement on the composition of the next Multiannual Financial Framework will be key to determining Member States' contributions over the next long term EU Budget cycle, which should cover a period of 5 or 6 years, if following longstanding practice.
Potential future changes to the system of own resources, which fund the EU Budget, could also affect Member States' EU Budget contributions if agreed. The European Commission brought forward proposals in relation to new own resources in June, and I recently set out my concerns on a proposed new own resource based on a statistical measure of Corporate Profits.
On this, I would refer the Deputy to my response to a Parliamentary Question from Deputy Doherty Dail Question No. 82 (Ref: 43392/23).
