“Today, I welcome Minister Chambers, the Commission team, Ambassadors and delegates to Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan’s Annual Event here in the Aviva Stadium. The 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 inclusion of REPowerEU, which is the EU’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in this plan, underpins the RRF as a concrete symbol of European solidarity. I am delighted that today we also officially mark the successful completion of Ireland’s First Payment Request of €324million under our National Recovery and Resilience Plan. This first payment follows extensive engagement between Departments across Government and the European Commission with preparation for Ireland’s second payment request well underway.”