Regional enterprise development and sustainable local job creation is a key policy priority of mine and this Government.
My Department is currently overseeing the development of nine new Regional Enterprise Plans to 2024.
These are ‘bottom-up’ plans, developed by regional stakeholders working together to identify growth opportunities, recognise vulnerabilities, and to address ecosystem gaps, so as to enable job creation in businesses, including indigenous businesses, across the regions, through collaborative regional actions.
The new West Regional Enterprise Plan to 2024 which covers Galway, Mayo and Roscommon will build on the core activities of the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs and the wider range of State Bodies involved in supporting enterprise development in the region, with a focus on creating sustainable employment opportunities.
I have the pleasure of driving the delivery of the new Plan in the West and I have engaged directly with the West Regional Steering Committee made up of regional stakeholders and chaired by Evelyn O’Toole, Founder CEO of Complete Laboratory Solutions (CLS), throughout 2021.
The regional stakeholders in the West region are currently working to finalise focused Strategic Objectives for their region, and actions to deliver on these objectives and intend to sign off on the new West Plan in the coming weeks.
Once this has been done it is my Department's intention to publish all these new Plans including for the West region, in quarter 4 this year.
Finally, my Department through Enterprise Ireland has made available €0.5 million in Feasibility Funding with grants of up to €50,000 on a 50% match fund basis through the Regional Enterprise Transition Scheme which can be leveraged to develop nascent initiatives emerging from the Regional Enterprise Plans. A closing date of October 1st 2021 applies to this funding.
