Today, the Commission has endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Irelands second payment request for €115.5 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the core component of NextGenerationEU.
After assessing the request submitted by Ireland on 23 December 2024, the Commission has preliminarily concluded that Ireland has satisfactorily completed the 17 milestones and targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision for the second tranche.
The request supports six reforms and five investments benefiting Irish citizens and businesses, focusing on reducing enterprise emissions, sustainable transport, carbon taxation, digitalisation in schools, businesses, and public administration, as well as ICT skills, healthcare, pensions, and housing. Key measures include:
- Reform of the supplementary pension system: Ireland has enacted legislation to expand withdrawal and transfer options and harmonise the tax treatment of employer contributions.
- Investment in industry decarbonisation: Ireland accelerates enterprise sector decarbonisation with the Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund, targeting manufacturing companies. The fund supports carbon-reducing technologies and energy monitoring systems.
Next steps
The Commission has sent its preliminary assessment of Irelands fulfillment of the milestones and targets to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which has four weeks to deliver its opinion. Payment to Ireland can occur following the EFCs opinion and the adoption of a payment decision by the Commission.
Background
The Irish recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures, financed by €1.15 billion in grants.
More information on Irelands Recovery and Resilience plan is available on this page, featuring an interactive map of RRF-financed projects, as well as on the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard. More information on the process of payment requests under the RRF can be found in this document of questions and answers.
For more information
Commissions preliminary assessment of Irelands second payment request
Irelands Recovery and Resilience plan
Recovery and Resilience Facility
Recovery and Resilience Facility project map
Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard