Barry Cowen
Question:165. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications how much of the just transition fund under the 2021-27 allocation has been drawn down to date. [22838/24]
View answerDáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 May 2024
165. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications how much of the just transition fund under the 2021-27 allocation has been drawn down to date. [22838/24]
View answer166. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the funding allocated to projects under the Just Transition Fund 2021-2027 to date, in tabular form. [22839/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 165 and 166 together.
Ireland's EU Just Transition Fund Programme and Territorial Just Transition Plan were approved by the Government and by the European Commission in December 2022. The amount of funding provided to the programme by the EU has been set at €84,466,694. This funding will be available until 2027, in line with the EU Multi-Annual Financial Framework for 2021 to 2027. As a co-financed programme, the EU funding will be matched by national funding provided by the Exchequer. This brings the total funding available under the programme to €168,933,388.
All expenditure under the programme is initially funded by the Exchequer, and the EU contribution is reimbursed in line with incurred expenditure, in accordance with EU rules. Funding under the programme is allocated to a number of different Departments managing schemes under the programme each year through the Estimates process in accordance with the programme requirements. The award of funding to individual projects under each scheme is currently ongoing, with the timeline for the distribution of grant funding to selected projects aligned with the requirements of the EU Just Transition Fund Programme.
The schemes included in the EU Just Transition Fund Programme, Departments and Agencies involved in their delivery, and current allocation of programme funding to these schemes is set out in the table below. Individual Departments are responsible for announcing details of grant awards for their respective schemes.
Scheme |
Intermediary Body / relevant Department |
Programme Allocation |
1.1 Economic Drivers. Regenerative Tourism |
Fáilte Ireland / Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media |
€38m |
1.2 Supporting bottom-up local and regional economic strategies |
Pobal / Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications |
€29m |
1.3 Bioeconomy Initiatives |
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine |
€20m |
2.1 Peatland Restoration |
Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage |
€12m |
2.2 Midland Carbon Catchment |
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine |
€15m |
2.3 Trails Network |
Fáilte Ireland / Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media |
€30m |
3.1 Electric Bus Routes |
Department of Transport |
€2m |
3.2 Support to Private Bus Operators |
Department of Transport |
€1m |
3.3 Community Centre Charging |
Department of Transport (ZEVI) |
€15m |
The Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly (EMRA) is the Managing Authority for Ireland’s EU Just Transition Fund Programme. Further information, including programme documentation, and links to information about previous, currently open and future funding calls, is available on the EMRA website at www.emra.ie. Information on projects selected for funding will also be published on this website in due course.