Commission greenlights Ireland’s fourth payment request for €249 million under NextGenerationEU

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the European Commission positively assessed Ireland’s fourth payment request for €249 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.

Following its assessment of the payment request, the Commission found that Ireland has satisfactorily completed the five milestones and three targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision.

The reforms and investments tied to this payment request will drive positive change for citizens and businesses in Ireland in the areas of railway electrification, e-health, public administration, higher education, re-skilling and up-skilling, and renewable energy deployment.

Flagship measures in this payment request include:

• Accelerating offshore wind energy: Ireland is making progress towards its target of connecting 5GW of offshore wind to the grid by 2030, a major step towards its energy and climate goals. This aligns with Ireland’s adoption of the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan—the country’s first strategic framework for sustainable offshore energy development.
• Digitalising healthcare finance: a new integrated financial management system, now live in 46 hospital and wider healthcare infrastructure, is cutting red tape by unifying procurement, improving price transparency, and boosting efficiency in public health spending.
• Upskilling for the green and digital transition: through initiatives such as SOLAS Green Skills Action Programme and Skills to Compete, Ireland has already trained over 85,000 people in high-demand areas—from Information and Communication Technologies and coding to sustainable construction— making businesses ready for the future.

Next steps

The Commission has now sent its preliminary assessment of Ireland’s fulfilment of the milestones and targets required for this payment to the Council’s Economic and Financial Committee (EFC). The payment to Ireland can take place following the EFC’s opinion, and the adoption of a payment decision by the Commission.

Background

Ireland submitted its payment request on 10 February 2026. The Irish recovery and resilience plan includes a wide range of investment and reform measures supporting climate and digital transition objectives. The plan will be financed by €1.15 billion in grants.

With today’s positive assessment, this payment request will bring the funds paid to Ireland under the RRF to €929 million, corresponding to 80% of all the funds in its national plan, with 80% of all milestones and targets in the plan now fulfilled.

An interactive map of projects financed by the RRF, as well as the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard, is available online. More information on the process of payment requests under the RRF can be found equally online.

For more information

Commission’s preliminary assessment of Ireland’s fourth payment request

Ireland’s Recovery and Resilience plan

Recovery and Resilience Facility

Recovery and Resilience Facility project map

Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard

Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation

EU as a borrower