Ministers Chambers and Donohoe welcome Ireland’s third payment under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility

The Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Jack Chambers, and the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, have today (11th November 2025) welcomed Ireland’s third payment under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

Ireland will receive €1.15 billion in grants over the lifetime of the RRF. Payments under the RRF are performance-based and depend on the successful implementation by Ireland of the investments and reforms as set out in its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). The plan covers the priorities of Advancing the Green Transition, Accelerating and Expanding Digital Reforms and Transformation, Social and Economic Recovery and Job Creation and REPowerEU.

Minister Chambers said today:

“I am pleased to announce the receipt of €240m into the exchequer today from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. This means we have achieved 60% of the milestones and targets within our national plan and this demonstrates successful implementation of both reforms and investments. This paves the way for continued progress towards full implementation of Ireland’s plan within the next year”

Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe said:

“The Recovery and Resilience Facility is a key pillar in the EU’s strategy to emerge stronger and more resilient from the COVID crisis. The €240 million payment today marks significant progress in the delivery of the ambitious programme of investments and reforms under Ireland’s plan, ensuring we fully realise the benefits of this unprecedented European initiative. ”

The third payment request, which relates to 14 milestones and targets and amounts to €240 million includes investments such as concluding the Technological Universities Transformation Fund (the N-TUTORR project), the expansion of the rehabilitation of peatlands, as well as further works on electrification of the transport networks in Cork and Drogheda. In addition, reform measures in this payment included carbon tax and the development of a biomethane strategy.

Notes

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is the main pillar of the European recovery plan, NextGenerationEU, designed to provide financial aid to Member States to combat the economic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and make the European economy more resistant to future shocks.

The RRF entered into force on 19 February 2021. It finances reforms and investments in EU Member States made from the start of the pandemic in February 2020 until 31 August 2026. Countries can receive financing up to a previously agreed maximum amount.

To benefit from support under the Facility, EU Governments have submitted national recovery and resilience plans, outlining the reforms and investments they will implement, with clear milestones and targets. The plans had to allocate at least 37% of their budget to green measures and 20% to digital measures.

The Recovery and Resilience Facility is performance-based. This means that the Commission only pays out the amounts to each country when they have achieved the agreed milestones and targets towards completing the reforms and investments included in their plan.

Ireland’s RRF Allocation is €1.15 billion, including REPowerEU. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan covers 11 reforms and 19 investments with 118 associated milestones and targets. Payment is contingent on achievement of the milestones and targets in each payment instalment. Ireland has already received its first and second payments of €324 million and €115 million respectively under the Facility.

This payment request was formally submitted to the Commission on 11 August 2025 and covers a total of 14 milestones and targets and amounts to €240 million.

RRF projects are pre-funded through the Estimates processes and the National Development Plan, with the RRF allocated funding being recouped from the EU after the milestones and targets have been achieved.

The RRF allocation will be paid to Ireland in five instalments. Ireland is finalising the review of the milestones and targets in the fourth and fifth payment requests with the aim of adjusting and amending the plan where necessary, to ensure timely delivery within the lifetime of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and to ensure that we drawdown all available funding under the facility.

The remaining two payment requests will be submitted for assessment before the end September 2026 deadline.

Further information can be found here.