EU to give Ireland €1bn from Brexit impact fund

European Council President Charles Michel proposed the fund last summer. Picture: Johanna Geron/via AP

Ireland will receive over a billion euro from an EU Brexit adjustment fund.

The Brexit Adjustment Reserve was proposed last summer by European Council President Charles Michel as a multi-billion-euro economic stimulus for businesses and industries impacted by the UK's exit from the EU.

This evening, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said that Ireland would be given 25% of the €5.4 billion fund if approved by the European Parliament.

“I’m pleased to announce that a proposal has been made tonight on the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR). The BAR is valued at €5.4 billion (€4.2 billion in 2021 & €1.1 billion in 2024) Ireland’s initial proposed allocation for 2021 is €1.051 billion or 25% of the fund.

"I hope the European Parliament and Council will now approve as we continue to work through Brexit.”

In November Mr Coveney told the Dáil that Ireland would be "first in line" for funding. 

The fund should not be seen as exclusively about fishing, he told Opposition TDs, despite much focus on the impact of the EU-UK trade deal being on the Irish fishing industry.

“There are many other areas being disrupted that will need financial support to actually help us get through that disruption, to reconfigure, and reshape certain sectors of our economy linked to Brexit,” Mr Coveney said.

Irish interests had been factored into the solutions that have been agreed, he said.