Co-financing for Projects under the EU LIFE Programme

The objective of this scheme is to provide:

• aid for research and development projects
• investment aid for research infrastructure
• aid for innovation clusters
• innovation aid for SMEs
• aid for process and organisational innovation
• aid for research and development in the fishery and aquaculture sector

The operation of this Scheme is subject to the provisions of Chapter III, Section 4 of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 published in Official Journal No. 57, 26th June 2014 (“the Regulation”) and the enabling legislation of the Waste Management (Amendment) Act 2001, Section 12 (Environment Fund) and the annual Appropriation Act. Terms defined in the Regulation shall have the same meaning in this Scheme.

The average annual budget of this Scheme shall not exceed EUR 500,000.

Only applicants who have achieved the successful award of EU LIFE funding will be eligible to receive aid. The right to apply does not impose any obligation on the department to provide funding to an applicant.

The following are the maximum amounts payable under the Scheme and these limits shall not be circumvented by artificially splitting up an aid project:

• or aid for a research and development project:

a) if the project is predominantly fundamental research: €40 million per undertaking, per project; that is the case where more than half of the eligible costs of the project are incurred through activities which fall within the category of fundamental research;

b) if the project is predominantly industrial research: €20 million per undertaking, per project; that is the case where more than half of the eligible costs of the project are incurred through activities which fall within the category of industrial research or within the categories of industrial research and fundamental research taken together;

c) if the project is predominantly experimental development: €15 million per undertaking, per project; that is the case where more than half of the eligible costs of the project are incurred through activities which fall within the category of experimental development

d) if the project is a EUREKA project or is implemented by a Joint Undertaking established on the basis of Article 185 or of Article 187 of the Treaty, the amounts referred to in points (i) to (iii) are doubled

e) if the aid for a research and development project is granted in the form of a repayable advance which, in the absence of an accepted methodology to calculate their gross grant equivalent, is expressed as a percentage of the eligible costs and the measure provides that in case of a successful outcome of the project, as defined on the basis of a reasonable and prudent hypothesis, the advances will be repaid with an interest rate at least equal to the discount rate applicable at the time of grant, the amounts referred to in points (i) to (iv) are increased by 50%

f) aid for feasibility studies in preparation for research activities: €7.5 million per study

• for investment aid for research infrastructures: €20 million per infrastructure
• for aid for innovation clusters: €7.5 million per cluster
• for innovation aid for SMEs: €5 million per undertaking, per project
• for aid for process and organisational innovation: €7.5 million per undertaking, per project

Aid payable in several installments shall be discounted to its value at the moment it is granted. The eligible costs shall be discounted to their value at the moment the aid is granted. The interest rate to be used for discounting purposes shall be the discount rate applicable at the moment the aid is granted.

Aid under this Scheme shall not be cumulated with any de minimis aid in respect of the same eligible costs if such cumulation would result in an aid intensity exceeding those laid down in the Regulation.

The aided part of the research and development project shall completely fall within one or more of the following categories:

• fundamental research
• industrial research
• experimental development
• feasibility studies

This scheme shall operate from 2 September 2019 until 31 December 2023.

For further information, see the attached document.