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Agri Business
Govt transfers €150m in Brexit funding to post-Covid fund, to be spent in part on retrofitting
The Taoiseach said the Government “would have liked” to spend the money on businesses and the agricultural sector, but that it faced obstacles in doing so.
THE GOVERNMENT IS to transfer €150 million of EU funding from the Brexit fund – aimed at sectors including agri-food and fisheries – to the Covid Recovery Fund, where a sizeable chunk will be put towards retrofitting, according to the Taoiseach.
Speaking in the Dáil this week, Leo Varadkar said that the Government “would have liked” to spend the money from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) Fund on businesses and the “agricultural sector”, but that it has come up against a range of obstacles in doing so.
The amount being transferred represents 20% of the €1.165 billion Ireland secured from the EU to help businesses, local communities, the agri-food sector and fisheries cope with the impact of Brexit.
The EU Covid Recovery and Resilience Fund (CRRF) was set up to help EU countries recover economically from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The CRRF is unique in that the payment to countries is conditional on them fulfilling pledged reforms and milestones that will make their economy more resilient.
Ireland’s plan is worth just under €1 billion, and its pledged reforms centre on green transition, digital reform and job creation.
Retrofitting already features in a range of the pledges Ireland has made, including working out the financial framework for a low cost residential retrofit loan scheme, and the commencement of retrofit works on public buildings.
Sizeable chunk of transferred funding will be put towards retrofitting Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Year-end deadline
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) said that the Government has opted to transfer a portion of the BAR funds to Ireland’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), with the intention of spending it on initiatives that will fall into line with the EU’s plan to reduce the dependence of member states on Russian fossil fuel imports.
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The spokesperson explained that the reason why the funds are being transferred is down to concerns that the money will not be spent on time, as it had to be spent between 2020 and the end of 2023, and also because of “the UK Government deciding not to impose custom checks on EU imports until the end of this year”.
Therefore, they said, the transfer of €150 million from one fund to another has been done with the intention of “mitigating the risk that Ireland would not be able to fully spend its BAR allocations within the eligibility period”.
They added that “at the same time”, this allowed “for additional new measures to be funded by the EU in the period up to 2026 that are well aligned with Government objectives to invest in energy efficiency and reduce dependence on foreign fossil fuel”.
Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Agriculture Matt Carthy said that there will be “understandable anger” amongst small farmers and those in the agri-food sector that a large portion of the BAR fund money is being transferred, to be spent on other initiatives.
“I was in the European Parliament when we campaigned to get the lion’s share of this BAR funding, and we used the stories of farmers, fisheries, and local businesses to secure it.
“It is hugely disappointing that this Government has decided to now transfer €150 million of that money out of the fund, without coming up with a strategy to use it to help the farmers, and communities that it was meant to help.
“If the political will was there to see this money directed towards the agricultural sector I have no doubt that it could be. With a bit of thought and creativity it would not have been that difficult.
Carthy added: “It is typical of this Government that they managed to find a way to give a €100 million of the Brexit funding to meat factories and other processors, but they have not even tried to direct this money towards farmers who are struggling.”
Taoiseach questioned
Independent TD Richard O’Donoghue asked the Taoiseach in the Dáil this week why the funding was being transferred, when it was supposed to be spent in support of “Ireland’s economy” in order to “mitigate the impact of Brexit”.
Leo Varadkar said that the Government “would have liked” to spend a lot of the BAR funding on helping businesses and the “agricultural sector”, but that to do that it would have to “demonstrate that those businesses have lost their profits, and gone into the red solely as a consequence of Brexit”.
TD Richard O'Donoghue questioning the Taoiseach on EU funding allocation on Wednesday Oireachtas TV
Oireachtas TV
Varadkar added that this is a difficult feat considering the “increased trade that’s occurred between Britain and Ireland”. He said that a lot of the BAR funding has been spent on upgrading port facilities, and on the fishing industry.
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In response to O’Donoghue, Varadkar said that the Government has opted to transfer the money into the European recovery fund:
You can’t spend that on housing… but you can spend it on retrofitting, and that is one of the things we’ve decided to divert the funding to.
“That will be of benefit to the construction industry because it is the same people that carry out a lot of that work”.
Ireland was the biggest beneficiary of the BAR funding in the EU, but one of the smallest beneficiaries of the EU recovery fund.
It is not yet clear what other initiatives the €150m being transferred from one fund to the other will be spent on yet.
A DPER spokesperson said that the Department is considering a range of potential investment and reform proposals with the Departments of Environment, Climate and Communications, Finance and Taoiseach’s, which will be “subject to negotiations with the European Commission”.
Analysis by Noteworthy, in collaboration with journalists around Europe, found that many states, Ireland included, have repackaged old promises as part of their pledged recovery reforms.
Ireland’s carbon tax promise is an example of this. The government committed to raising its carbon tax by €7.50 annually, which was already a longstanding government commitment with cross-party support.
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The Journal and its investigative unit Noteworthy are part of the Recovery Files – a pan-European research project investigating the Recovery and Resilience Facility, initiated by Follow the Money in 2021.
Find out more and help support the Irish contribution to this project HERE>>
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It’s unbelievably shocking the waiting lists for children. Never something I appreciated until recently. Getting things done for children should be a priority. So that they don’t have complications later. It’s heartache for the child and family and ends up costing more in the long run.
And a huge number of mentally distressed children and adolescents waiting more than a year to access the HSE Children & Adolescents Mental Health Service as well – completely unacceptable in any decent society.
That’s why, when candidates knock on your door, you should tell them you don’t wish to have your vote bought with tax or USC cuts – you want them instead to invest that money into starting to reverse some of the savage cuts in recent years to services and supports for our most vulnerable. That is the only moral path.
250000 for carpets for leinster house, 500000 to move the work of art outside the central bank, tds expenses 40 million, there’s plenty of money around but just not for the children of Eire, you can thank fine Gael and Labour for that.
The public system is a complete failure. DOH and HSE managers don’t have a clue and their incompetence is killing people. No concerns here as there is ZERO accountability in these positions.
A sickening situation for anyone to have to wait for this operation. If these kids can’t be helped here due to the excuse ridden HSE rubbish then they need to be sent out to other European countries where they work on the alien concept of the idea of speed of service. Waiting lists cause pain and in the end cost more than dealing with the patients immediately.
Scoliosis is a really horrible thing to live with. I only found out I had it at 14 by pure accident. Luckily the surgery was done when I was 16 so it wasn’t too bad. It really made my quality of life a lot better too
For any parent of a child with scoliosis please feel free to join my support group. We are working together to try get the lists down and need all the support we can get.
Thank you for the lovely comments. I won’t stop until Mr varadker understands why these lists need to be sorted before it’s too late.
Before Burton gave her backslapping speech to her horde of liars, it was penned by a cohort of over paid arse lickers who’s salary would pay for the operation that these people deserve especially when funny noonan has a fortune to build a doomsday wall
I was luckily diagnosed at the age of 6 due to the District Nurse visit to the school to do routine checks on eyesight, hearing general development etc. I had two curves in opposite directions (sideways so they didn’t impinge on any my organs) so I stood straight and to all appearances had a straight spine. I and wore a brace from the age of 7 to 14 which corrected the top curve but unfortunately the bottom curve was not corrected and I had a spinal fusion operation in 1990 by the amazing and now retired Dr Frank McManus at Cappagh Orthopeadic Hosptial. I was very lucky to be diagnosed so young and wonder if cuts to health visits to schools are meaning children don’t get picked up until much older and where that curve could’ve been corrected if picked up earlier.
I also remember some of the costs were covered by my parent’s VHI insurance account in order to be operated on sooner so the curve didn’t progress too much and remember that they tried to wangle out of payment by suggesting that the surgery was cosmetic. Thankfully a letter from McManus and his surgical team sorted that one out.
To the author of this article. Excuse me for asking, but what gives you the impression that this Government, or indeed ANY state agency, has any interest in your plight? (or anyone else’s plight, for that matter). There must be a death ; a slew of reports ; publicity and the threat of law suits to arouse the vaguest interest. You DO know that, don’t you?
“significant progress achieved in the management of the spinal surgery waiting list in the last year”.??? Well done HSE. 2009- 75 children waiting on spinal surgery, 2016 -250 children waiting in pain. That’s not the progress we need!
The crosscare directive scheme is the only way to go for people waiting for treatment here. Look into it people. I’m in the process of arranging to have my daughter’s tonsils removed privately up north and the HSE will be picking up the tab. They will pay whatever it would have cost if I was having them removed here (they pay the cheaper of the two) and I only have to pay the difference which is going to be very little. Everyone is entitled to this care now.
Sorry to hear about your condition Dierdre and thank you for explaining what it is. I am tired of lazy journalism where the author uses words they dont understand and dlnt care that we dont understand. Illness and ailments are not just fancy words, they are conditions that real peolle suffer from and the rest of us are capable of understanding about.
Orĺá. Thank you for highlighting this issue and bringing it to a wider audience.
However I dont understand why you bring in uncommon terms such as “neuropathy” without explanation of its meaning. It is standard practice in science and medicine to briefly explain any term not in everyday use upon its first mention in any article even it is written for a specialist audience., This applies more so when said article is directed at the general public.
Neuropathy is peripheral nerve damage caused by the curve crushing my spinal cord,which presents itself in foot numbness in my case to the extent I had a bone infection in my foot and couldn’t feel a thing,normally this infection (osteomyelitis) causes severe pain. Not to me!
Well done. My daughter has ehlers danlos syndrome and lots of comorbidities including scoliosis Atlantoaxial axial instability chiari and cervical instability.
We have to travel to uk in order to access the expert care she needs. She now has to travel to USA for neurosurgery and fusion. This has to be privately funds no support from the state. Shame on government and the pretence that we have a health equitable service. Those with rare diseases continue to be ignored by the state
I had a spinal fusion done for scoliosis when I was 15 in 2005. I was so lucky that there was no waiting lists back then. I couldn’t imagine life now if I hadn’t had the surgery done. It’s a disgrace that those children are left to deteriorate while waiting for so long for a consultation.
When it’s more important to pay banker debts and bondholders, kids needing any sort of medical intervention to save lives or improve the quality of life will never be given any sort of priority.Banks and bondholders are much more needy and important that sick kids.
Even with such a fantastic “recovery” in which we are all doing so well, so better off, ordinary people, the children of ordinary people are not allowed share or benefit from it
A heartless, uncaring government. Vote them out.
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