Coalition wants EU funds for Irish Water and Metro North

The Government wants Irish Water and the Metro North scheme to be included in the EU’s ambitious €315 billion investment plan.

It has also proposed an interconnector with France, a lending scheme for small businesses and an energy efficiency scheme for private homes and public sector buildings.

The list of investment projects from member states is to be discussed by EU finance ministers on Tuesday in Brussels.

In total, the Government has identified projects with a capital value of more than €10 billion for possible inclusion in the scheme, including a number of road schemes.

EU and Irish officials have stressed the list is a preliminary selection of projects, with no guarantee they will be selected. An ambitious social housing project and the development of energy links between Scotland and Ireland are also understood to have been put forward as well as the development of seven ports across the country.

Investment board

More than 2,000 proposals from across Europe were submitted under president of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker’s first-round call for projects. They will be analysed by an investment board.

Minister of State Simon Harris will attend the Brussels meeting.

Last month the commission unveiled an ambitious €315 billion investment plan in an attempt to kickstart the sluggish European economy. The plan – a joint investment project between the European Investment Bank and the commission – consists of a core fund of €21 billion which will be leveraged to attract private investment worth 15 times that amount. Countries in central and eastern Europe have expressed doubts about the efficacy of the plan, raising concerns that the scheme will be targeted at low-risk economies such as Germany. Under initial proposals, the Department of Public Expenditure earmarked projects worth almost €11 billion between the years 2015 and 2017.

They include €2.4 billion worth of energy projects, a €1.45 billion investment in transport, €5 billion in social infrastructure projects and an €0.8 billion for a business lending scheme.