Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 June 2023
14. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide an update on the work of his Department and Enterprise Ireland on the CIRCULÉIRE Programme; the expected outputs of the programme for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31160/23]
View answerCIRCULÉIRE is the first cross-sectoral industry-led innovation network dedicated to closing the circular innovation gap and accelerating the net-zero carbon circular economy in Ireland. CIRCULÉIRE was launched in 2020 by Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR), an Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland supported Technology Centre, in partnership with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, the Environmental Protection Agency, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, and 25 cross-sectoral Founding Industry Members.
Between 2020 and 2023, CIRCULÉIRE has taken manufacturers and their supply-chains on a journey from linear to circular business models through baselining, assessments, business case development, innovation projects and thematic working groups raising industry awareness of circular practices and supporting its’ members to contribute to their voluntary commitment to reduce their collective CO2 emissions and waste.
One key outcome of CIRCULÉIRE is the growth of the cross-sectoral industry membership engagement which has seen a doubling in membership engagement in the programme with over 50 cross-sectoral members now participating. In 2023, cross-sectoral knowledge sharing was further improved through the establishment of quarterly network and member meetings which also includes site visits to Industry members. CIRCULÉIRE have also organised funding access support clinics this year to continue to build capacity within CIRCULÉIRE's network members to leverage national and EU grant funding to pilot or scale-up circular economy implementation.
A total of 10 pilots have been funded under the €1.5 million Circular Economy Innovation Demonstration Fund, with €300,000 of direct contributions from industry grant recipients. The network innovation fund is dedicated to funding large-scale systems-level innovation. One recent applicant under this fund is the Design & Crafts Council Ireland that is partly funded by my Department and in collaboration with colleagues in NCAD and Creative Futures Academy jointly applied for funding for their programme titled Circular by Design. Circular by Design is a first-of-a-kind training programme that supports textile and fashion designers, brands and manufacturers to make the transition to circular practices in every step of their design practice, value chain and business model. In its pilot year, the programme trained 11 textile brands and aims to expand this to train an additional 50 Irish textile designers, brands and manufacturers in the coming years.
In November 2022, in recognition of the noteworthy progress made by CIRCULÉIRE, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications announced a €1.5 million continuation funding for the initiative in 2023 to build on the momentum to date and maintain critical industry engagement.
CIRCULÉIRE’s Circular Venture Programme was also relaunched for 2023. It is the first of its kind in Ireland targeting circular ventures seeking to scale. The programme is a combination of non-equity funding and mentoring that supports circular entrepreneurs who are demonstrating or enabling circular models to impact Ireland’s consumer behaviour, the economy, and accelerate the national transition to a circular economy.
In 2023 CIRCULÉIRE was also involved as a Co-designer of the International Circular Economy Hotspot Dublin. This event explored, showcased, and celebrated ground-breaking Irish and international circular economic initiatives, inspired by the very best in sustainability. Ireland has made significant strides in embracing circularity, and this event and the wider CIRCULÉIRE programme will further accelerate our progress in closing the circularity gap.
