Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 October 2023
63. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 60 of 29 June 2023, for an update on the implementation of the West Regional Enterprise Plan to 2024; for a status update on the development of the BIA Innovator Campus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44205/23]
View answerBalanced regional enterprise development continues to be a key policy of mine and this Government, and is reaffirmed in the Department’s White Paper on Enterprise.
My Department contributes to this agenda in several ways, including through the development, implementation and oversight of nine Regional Enterprise Plans.
The West Regional Enterprise Plan covers Galway, Mayo and Roscommon and was launched in Castlebar on 4 March last year.
Each Regional Enterprise Plan is overseen and monitored by a Steering Committee made up of regional stakeholders and chaired by a senior level private sector businessperson.
Minister Calleary attended the most recent meeting of the West REP Steering Committee on 20 June in the BIA Innovator Campus in Athenry and I believe good progress is being made in delivering on the strategic objectives of the Plan.
With regard to the BIA Innovator Campus, the Inaugural Irish Drink Summit, supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was held there in September .
Furthermore, partnering with Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and Galway and Leitrim County Councils, BIA is also leading out on a Shared Island AgriFood Infrastructure Enabling Growth project. Recently BIA welcomed over 40 Shared Island delegates to the campus over two days for an immersion and co-creation event.
BIA is also the facilitator of the AgTech Centre for Innovation, a priority project within the West’s Regional Enterprise Plan, designed to build regional capacity to enable agri-innovators to become more productive, sustainable and enterprising. Funding for this project was granted under the Regional Enterprise Innovation Scoping Scheme.
My Department has secured up to €145 million in funding to assist in delivering on the objectives set out in the nine Regional Enterprise Plans and support projects aligned to those Plans. This funding builds on the €126 million my Department has already allocated in regional enterprise funding.
Earlier this week I announced the first call amounting to €35 million under the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme (SREIS). The overall objective of this Scheme is to drive job creation and enterprise development; it provides an opportunity for regional stakeholders to unlock potential from the bottom up through collaboration and will have a major impact in all regions of the country.
The Scheme is now open for applications on Enterprise Ireland’s website and the first call will close on 31 March 2024. I expect that there will be up to four calls under this fund over the coming years. I look forward to seeing innovative enterprise focused projects coming from the West for this funding.
This funding will help support entrepreneurship, start-ups and scaling companies, primarily micro and SMEs, through the provision of appropriate infrastructure and support for key staff resources.
Finally, the Department is holding nine ‘Building Better Business’ conferences around the country throughout 2023. These focus on the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation and the transition to a low-carbon economy, as well as showcasing the government and agency supports available to small and medium enterprises. Regional Enterprise Plan Chairs also have the opportunity to address attendees about the progress being made in the implementation of their Plans.
The most recent conference was held on 22 September in Dundalk and focused on the North-East region. The next event will focus on the West region and takes place tomorrow in Ballina and I hope to see the Deputy there.
I believe the conferences demonstrate the firm commitment of this Government to balanced regional enterprise development for all regions of Ireland, including the West.
