I propose to take Questions Nos. 230, 231 and 233 together.
The objective of the Just Transition Fund is to support innovative projects that contribute to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the Wider Midlands region, and which have employment and enterprise potential. The Fund has three priorities:
1. Employment and enterprise supports: to support innovation and investment proposals to generate sustainable employment in green enterprise.
2. Training supports: to retrain and reskill workers to assist local communities and businesses in the Wider Midlands to adjust to the low carbon transition.
3. Community transitioning supports: to support proactive communications with affected communities and other stakeholders in the region, establish best practice sharing networks, and assist in developing local transition plans.
My Department held a competitive call for applications to this Fund, which closed on 17 July 2020, in response to which over 100 applications were received. 16 'strand 1' projects, announced by my Department in September 2020, have concluded Funding Agreements with my Department, to a total value of €1.2m. Further provisional offers of funding to 'strand 2' projects, totalling €27.8 million, were made to 47 projects in November 2020. The percentage allocations to the three priority areas for strand 1 were:
- Priority 1: 63%
- Priority 2: 10%
- Priority 3: 27%
The funding allocations to the three priority areas under strand 2, based on the provisional offers, are:
- Priority 1: 76%
- Priority 2: 13%
- Priority 3 11%
My Department to date has issued €169,747 to Strand 1 projects. There have been no pre-funding or drawdown requests made for strand 2 projects as funding agreements have not yet been finalised for these projects.
The Just Transition Fund call has sought to ensure a geographical spread of successful projects across the eight eligible counties of the Wider Midlands region and, if a sufficient spread of applications was submitted from each of the eligible counties, seek to ensure that a minimum of 5% of the total allocated spend goes to each of the eight counties. My Department intends to publish the final funding allocations on a county-by-county basis once all funding agreements are in place.