Note: The data shows the percentage of the total funds allocated per Member State that has been paid by the Commission, on the basis of claims submitted and incudes the payments for territorial cooperation.

Data: European Commission

Data: Strategic Report 2013, European Commission

The Position Paper on the development of the Partnership Agreement and programmes in Ireland for the period 2014-2020 outlines three main funding priorities that the European Commission would like to co-finance in Ireland: 1. Combating long-term and youth unemployment and social exclusion; 2. Support for R&D; investments and business sector competitiveness; 3. Promotion of environmentally-friendly and resource efficient economy.

Today, the European Commission action team is going to Ireland, one of the Member States with very high youth unemployment. Ireland has almost 30% of young people without a job. This is mainly a result of the economic crisis that had a direct impact on sectors of the economy which were traditionally the largest source of labour demand, such as construction, manufacturing, retail or wholesale. Many young people are now unemployed because their skills do not match the needs of the market.