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€1.2 billion of EU funds to be invested in Ireland over seven years

Ireland will benefit from €1.2 billion of EU Structural Funds over the period 2014 to 2020, according to Dara Murphy TD, Minister for European Affairs.

Minister Murphy was speaking in Brussels after attending a special meeting of the General Affairs Council devoted to the European Union’s Cohesion policy. Cohesion funding accounts for almost a third of the EU’s budget. The Minister said

The funding Ireland will receive will be used for promoting R&D investment and the competitiveness of the business sector; combatting long-term and youth unemployment and social exclusion; and promoting an environmentally-friendly and resource efficient economy.

The Irish Government was successful in securing increased funding for Ireland for the period 2014-2020:

· €409 million is for European Regional Development Fund co-funded programmes;
· €542 million is for European Social Fund co-funded programmes;
· An additional €68m will be provided for the Youth Employment Initiative, which is being programmed through the ESF programme;
· €169 million is for European Territorial Cooperation programmes, including the Northern Ireland PEACE Programme, the Ireland/Northern Ireland/West of Scotland INTERREG Programme, the Ireland/Wales INTERREG Programme and a number of smaller transnational programmes in which Ireland participates.

Today’s Council discussed the contribution that Structural Funds can make to areas as diverse as cross-border cooperation and the shift towards a low-carbon economy.

Following the successful conclusion of talks in Stormont, Minister Murphy highlighted the contribution that EU funding has made to cross-border programmes and the process of peace building and reconciliation.

He noted that the Irish Government had secured a special allocation of €150 million towards a new EU funded PEACE Programme. Along with its sister INTERREG Programme, it will mean almost half a billion Euro of investment in Northern Ireland and the border region of Ireland over the period 2014-2020. Minister Murphy said

The European Union has always been a strong supporter of the peace process in Northern Ireland. The PEACE and INTERREG Programmes provide real evidence of that support.

ENDS