At the outset, my immediate concern is for the impacted staff and their families and the full range of state supports will be available for impacted employees.
My Department is funding Enterprise Ireland to work with companies across the country. Almost 70% of new jobs growth occurred outside of Dublin. The positive job creation results are a testament to the talent, resilience and innovation of businesses operating in Ireland today. Enterprise Ireland have tackled head on, the impact of global economic challenges to support and grow employment opportunities throughout the country. The strong regional performance evident in these results is very welcome.
Over 200,000 people now work in Enterprise Ireland client companies, that’s almost as many people working for multi-nationals. It’s great to see Irish exporting companies performing so strongly last year notwithstanding the disruption to trade caused by Brexit, the pandemic, and latterly the war in Ukraine.
Enterprise Ireland's Mid-West team are currently working with Regional Enterprise Development funded projects in County Tipperary as follows:
The Irish Bioeconomy Foundation’s (IBF) facility at the National Bioeconomy Campus in Lisheen, Co. Tipperary is currently developing of a state-of-the-art National Bioeconomy Innovation & Piloting Facility encompassing flexible, modular, pilot-scale multi-purpose chemical & biological infrastructure. This project is now close to delivery stage for Tipperary.
The Tipperary Innovation Engine project was approved to upgrade of an existing facility at Tipperary Technology Park as part of a Regional Innovation project linking with Engine Innovation Limerick to provide flexible co-working and individual office spaces.
On 19 September, Nephin Renewable Gas and their team announced that they will be the anchor tenant for the Tipperary Innovation engine as they create a new headquarters in the Tipperary town. Nephin Energy specialise in the development of a network of anaerobic digestion plants throughout Ireland and expects their team to grow to 100 in the coming years, with up to 70 of those positions based locally in Tipperary Town.
The Mid-West Regional team at Enterprise Ireland are consistent in dealing with prospective SME clients of Enterprise Ireland on a one to one and ongoing basis in Co Tipperary. The team represent EI on the Tipperary LEO Evaluation panel and New Frontiers review boards in TUS Mid-West as well as reaching out to many representative opportunities such as the Tipperary Economic Forum and online events to attract start-ups and SMEs to County Tipperary.
Earlier this year, in March, SEPAM, a family-owned Engineering and Construction company, announced 100+ jobs for its head office in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. The new jobs will include design engineering, commercial and administration; recruitment for which has already commenced. This planned expansion is very important for the long-term growth and continued development of the company in existing industry sectors and in the new emerging Energy Transition market.
Enterprise Ireland have also supported Questum in Clonmel under the community enterprise scheme to date. Questum is the newest of the TUS Limerick enterprise centres and comprises of nearly 2,000sqm of office and lab space. This facility is at capacity to date and is home to many Enterprise Ireland clients such as Shorla Pharma, Theradep and Skanstec. The resident-client companies’ employee 35 people, with a subseqeunt positive multiplier effect into the local and regional economy. QUESTUM is also home to BuzzQuarter, a pilot project aimed at startup digital creatives, who will be supported in their journey to setup and establish a digital company.
