The electrification of Cork rail, further development of digital infrastructure for schools and support for industry decarbonisation will be the key investments in the Irish recovery and resilience plan included in the second payment request for €115.5m under the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility.
The European Commission recently endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Ireland's second payment request. The payment request supports six reforms and five investments that will benefit citizens and businesses in Ireland, focusing on enterprise emissions reduction, sustainable transport, carbon taxation, digitalisation in schools, businesses, and public administration, as well as ICT skills, healthcare, pensions, and housing.
Following its assessment of the payment request, submitted by Ireland on December 23, 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 instalment.
The payment request supports six reforms and five investments that will benefit citizens and businesses in Ireland, focusing on enterprise emissions reduction, sustainable transport, carbon taxation, digitalisation in schools, businesses, and public administration, as well as ICT skills, healthcare, pensions, and housing.
Flagship measures in this payment request include:
- A reform to simplify and harmonise the supplementary pension system: Ireland has introduced legislation to expand withdrawal and transfer options and equalise the tax treatment of employer contributions across different pension schemes;
- An investment to support industry decarbonisation: Ireland is accelerating the decarbonisation of the enterprise sector with the launch of the Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund, targeting manufacturing enterprises. This fund will provide support for carbon-reducing technologies, energy monitoring systems, and research and innovation.