I would like to focus my question this afternoon on the national recovery and resilience plan published yesterday afternoon. This plan is being exclusively funded from Brussels. For the first time ever the European Union is centrally borrowing to the tune of €750 billion - a massive amount of money - and distributing that money among member states. I wish this facility had been available to us ten years ago when we needed it most. It would have offset much of the unnecessary suffering and hardship.

Hear, hear.

I have one concern with regard to Ireland's allocation, which is €915 million. Notwithstanding that Ireland's population is more than 1.1% of the European Union, its allocation is less than 0.75%. I ask the Taoiseach to outline what criteria was used at a European level to determine the allocations for individual member states and to confirm if he is happy and satisfied with Ireland's allocation. My second question is again in regard to the €915 million. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm if it is a grant that does not have to be paid back to Brussels or if it is a loan that has to be paid back over time.

I would like to make a third point. I agree with the overarching objectives of this programme. It is about decarbonisation, digitalisation and resilience. In the time remaining to me, I will focus on the resilience piece. Over the last 15 or 16 months two organisations in particular have excelled and demonstrated once again that they are critical when it comes to national resilience in the face of the strategic shock we have just been through, that is, An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. Ironically, these are the two organisations that get very little, if any, funding directly from Brussels. This is an opportunity to right that wrong. I note in the plan a commitment for deep retrofitting of public service buildings. I ask the Taoiseach to consider or, at least, not to forget the many old and cold Garda stations and military barracks all over this country. They were formerly owned by the Royal Irish Constabulary, RIC, and the British Army and we took them over almost 100 years ago. They are in deep and serious need of refurbishment. I ask the Taoiseach not to forget about them.

There is another commitment in regard to funding of the technological universities. Again, there are two technological universities that have been consistently forgotten about, that is, the Garda College in Templemore and The Military College in the Curragh Camp, both of which are crying out for funding. Soldiering and policing in the 21st century are tech-heavy professions and they need to be funded. I ask the Taoiseach not to forget about these two institutions. They have served us well over the last 100 years. I ask that any funding available through this stream be directed to those two institutions.

I thank Deputy Berry for the questions. First, the €915 million is a grant, not a loan, although the facility exists for Ireland to submit an application for loan facilities as well from the European Union's recovery and resilience facility. I actively supported the creation of a new European Union initiative, the recovery and resilience facility, at the European Council meeting last year. In my view, it is historic and unprecedented, but correct, that Europe would work collectively in a once in 100 years crisis to borrow money to enable Europe as an entity to get through the Covid-19 pandemic. In that context, as a small open economy, we benefit if the European economy is refloated through exporting goods and services to the Single Market and to more than 450 million citizens. That ultimately is what will drive the Irish economy into the future.

The allocation is provided to member states in two stages, with 70% paid in 2021-2022 and 30% in 2023. For 70% of the total €312.5 billion available in grants, the allocation key takes into account a member state's population, the inverse of its GDP per capita and its average unemployment rate over the five years from 2014 to 2019, all of which are compared to the European average. For the remaining 30%, the formula will replace the 2015-2019 unemployment rate indicator with the observed loss in real GDP over 2020 and the observed cumulative loss in real GDP over the period 2020 to 2021.

Ireland's strong economic performance relative to other countries, plus our population, is the key factor in terms of the amount we have received in grant terms. The recovery and resilience submission is taken as a substitute for the semester process, which is the annual country-specific recommendations issued by the Commission. Ireland has made its submission. The plan has been submitted. It very much reflects the emphasis on the green economy and on digital transformation as key elements.

In terms of the other issues, the Defence Forces built infrastructure programme is in place. It is a five-year plan financed to 2025. On the provision of infrastructure in the Curragh Camp, there are a number of notable projects identified for delivery. The Deputy may wish to note that progression is well advanced on procurement and design of a new cadet school headquarters in the Curragh Camp. It is intended, subject to procurement, to commence construction of this much-needed building as quickly as possible. On upgrade of The Military College, the five-year plan identifies the development of that facility, with a planned construction start in 2025.

I thank the Taoiseach for clarifying that the funding is a grant rather than a loan. That is really important because what we are going through at the moment is not a stand-alone economic crisis; it is a natural disaster that has become an economic crisis. It is important to make a distinction in that perspective.

I note from the plan that there is a potential opportunity for a second round of European Union funding in 2023, which obviously has to be negotiated. I would urge the Taoiseach to push for a second allocation of €750 million, if possible. Ireland should fight as much as possible for its pro rata entitlement. The more money we can throw at this problem the better. We need to inflate the economy and to reinflate our society and get on with our lives.

I appreciate the Deputy's point, but we will not be able to get a similar amount in the second round. It will not be of that scale because the metrics, in terms of the application of the GDP measurement, is going to make it challenging for us.

We will keep open the idea and possibility of borrowing from the facility but, given the fact we can borrow quite cheaply, or I might say at low cost, on the markets at the moment, it is something the Minister for Finance continues to evaluate.

The importance of this recovery and resilience plan is its focus on decarbonisation of the economy. There are significant jobs available now, and will be available, in retrofitting, for example, under the national retrofit programme and in terms of public transport development. The rail project in Cork is a very good illustration of that. The Beggars Bush development will provide a state-of-the-art public building for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, which will then become an exemplar for other public buildings in terms of how they should be developed. The river basin management plan is also important. Investment in schools will see connectivity provided for 1,000 or 1,100 schools. There is also the national grand challenges scholars programme, which will give substantial funding for research across the country.