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IRELAND IS SET to contribute between €90 million and €100 million extra to the European Union budget for 2013, in a deal reached by the EU’s finance ministers today.
The contribution forms part of a €7.3 billion package being put together by the 27 member states to cover a funding shortfall.
The extra funds come after the European Commission asked member states to stump up €11.2 billion extra for 2013.
Authorities in Brussels said the extra funding was needed because member states had asked them to spend more than originally planned on matters to address youth unemployment and other growing social problems.
In March, EU budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski said the shortfall in the budget was a ‘snowball’ of smaller deficits which had not been addressed.
Today’s deal will still leave a shortfall of almost €4 billion, which will be re-examined later in the year and may be absorbed into the 2014 Budget.
The deal, brokered by the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, came after some member states refused to pledge the full €11.2 billion Brussels had asked for – with some diplomats citing budget pressures in their own countries.
Ireland generally contributes about 1.27 per cent of the EU’s total Budget, meaning it will contribute roughly €93 million of the new amount.
Germany, the largest donor, will pay over a fifth of the total amount – meaning a bill of roughly €1.3 billion.
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Ca ching! Just hit the jackpot on the gravy train.
@Paul Mc: or just maybe he has worked hard and is a good public representative and the best candidate for the job, time will tell so let’s give him benefit of the doubt before he ever even starts the job like you would in other professions
@Woolly: who do you buy your drugs from? They must be top class if you think any of them have anything but their own best interests at heart.
@Woolly: You gotta realize that the first and main objective of the normal Irish begrudge aka knacker is to knock and disparage their own representatives.
@David Byrne: Did you run for any of these great jobs?
@Paul Mc: the usual lazy comment
@Paul Mc: yea that all sounds very democratic, at least by EU standards it is
@Paul Mc: most predictable comment of the day. Well played. Bet you’re very happy with yourself and your 300 likes.
@Woolly: you really think that’s how it works?
@Woolly: you really think that’s how it works?
Dont we need a by election?
@Ruairi Colton: Not for European Parliament, same for County Councils.
@Ruairi Colton: Not for the EP, it is done on a list basis, and he was next on the list.
@Ruairi Colton: That’s only for Dáil and Seanad.
@Ruairi Colton: A list of suitable replacement candidates is put forward at the time when a person is selected to run to be a Member of the European Parliament. If they leave their position as an MEP during the term (death, illness, election to a national parliament, promotion to another position etc.), one of those on the list will take their place for the remainder.
@Lee Kelly (he/him): I guess the train has more than one carriage – who gets his job now. PS, obviously not the “best” candidate for MEP, just the replacement – up to the people of Ireland East to make sure he knows who he is accountable to.
@Reg: Friends; Indeed.,
Colm who? Besta luck to him.
@Brian Murphy: With any luck he won’t be seen coming within 2 metres of someone else and find himself hounded out of the job by our mob of self-righteous curtain twitchers.
@Tommy Roche: Funny you should bring that up. On a day when Debenham works were arrested for fighting for their rights and the likes of Calleary, Hogan , Buttimer were rightly publicly shamed and forced to resign, while bankers, juditry. Politicians , ex politicians especially one who now go unpunished, or the criminal trial of bankers like Sean Fitzpatrick whose criminal case collapsed because of shredded documents by the state..A witch hunt? A corrupt state protecting corrupt people.
@Tommy Roche: you need to be more subtle to be a good troll lad!!
@Tommy Roche: See the FG mob are out again today trying to bully concerned citizens.
This is wrong.
@Locojoe: why
@Locojoe: meh, other countries have a list system. Takes the Parish Pump out if it
huge shoes to fill. will be difficult to make a name in a huge constituency
@ed w: She must have big feet so because you surely weren’t referring to the role she plays as a euro technocrat.
have your say