Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2015
234. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Finance the projects applied for in the €23 billion submission for European Union funding; the criteria for eligibility for these funds; the projected timeframe to invest the funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7151/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI presume that the Deputy is asking about the European Fund for Strategic Infrastructure (EFSI) or the so called Juncker plan and the link between it and the indicative project list submitted at the end of last year as part of the work of the EIB-Commission Task Force on developing an Investment Project pipeline in the EU.
The Irish project list was part of an EU wide request from the Task Force to gauge the level of available projects in the period 2015-2017 should investment resources be found. The project list is only a cross section of available projects that could commence between 2015 and 2017. The list does not involve prioritisation and does not bestow any special status on the projects themselves. It is still a matter for the Departments concerned to advance any public projects on the list or other projects in accordance with the Capital programme and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
As you may be aware the Commission's EFSI proposal is to mobilise €315 billion of investment, mostly from the private sector, over the next 3 years. Under the EFSI proposal investments will be made in projects in order to receive a commercial return and funds will not be made available as grants. The EFSI is expected to become operational later this year and subject to EFSI's project selection criteria some of the projects on the Irish list or others could be eligible for EFSI investment. EFSI investments are to be consistent with Union policies and to support any of the following general objectives:-
- development of infrastructure, including in the areas of transport, particularly in industrial centres; energy, in particular energy interconnections; and digital infrastructure;
- investment in education and training, health, research and development, information and communications technology and innovation;
- expansion of renewable energy and energy and resource efficiency;
- infrastructure projects in the environmental, natural resources, urban development and social fields;
- providing financing for SMEs and Midcaps, including working capital financing and risk bearing capacity.
