In response to the request for submissions from the EU Task Force on Investment of potential investment projects as part of its scoping exercise, a joint proposal was submitted by agencies operating under the auspices of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The agencies (Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland) put forward a proposal related to the Knowledge and Digital Economy sector, entitled "Regional Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions".
The proposal was a regionally focused enterprise funding package with 3 strands:
(1) Regional Enterprise (€50m) funding innovation infrastructure and competitive collaboration. The purpose of this funding is to stimulate the enhancement of the local and regional enterprise eco-system by competitively offering to co-finance projects proposed by local/regional alliances.
(2) Enhance enterprise innovative capacity within the regions (€200m) via four Research, Development and Innovation hubs:
(i) Southern Region: Manufacturing Competitiveness,
(ii) Border Region: Smart Grids and Cities,
(iii)Eastern Region: Digital Platforms, Content and Applications,
(iv)Midlands Region: Sustainable Food Production and Processing.
(3) Improve infrastructural supports (€30m) to the regional enterprise base in order to increase employment opportunities and promote economic growth and social inclusion.