Balanced regional enterprise development is a key focus for me and this Government, as reaffirmed in the 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 (REPs).
The West REP is implemented at a regional level by a Steering Committee made up of stakeholders from Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. Evelyn O’Toole is the Chairperson of the West REP Steering Committee and is supported by a Programme Manager based in the Western Development Commission.
My Department oversees the REPs at the national level. A meeting of the National Oversight Group for the REPs with Steering Committee Chairpersons is planned for Thursday 25 April where implementation across all REPs will be discussed.
Since the West REP was launched, the Steering Committee has met on 15 June 2022, 29 November 2022, 20 June 2023 and 1 March 2024.
I attended the most recent meeting of the West REP Steering Committee on 1 March 2024. The meeting took place in Ireland West Airport Knock (IWAK). At the meeting, the Programme Manager updated members on the progress being made on a variety of actions within the Plan. This included a presentation from the Northern and Western Regional Assembly on the economic performance of the region; an update from IWAK on their development activities; and an update from Enterprise Ireland on the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme.
The nine REP Mid-Term Progress Reports, including for the West, were published on Monday 8 April, last week. These Progress Reports document implementation to the end of Q3 2023 and are available on my Department’s website.
Good progress has been made implementing the West REP. Some highlights include:
• BIA Innovator Campus formally opened their premises in January. The campus runs a rich programme of supporting activities to help food businesses regardless of their lifecycle stage ad individual needs.
• In February, Platform94 formally launched their extension as well as the North-West Scaling programme for companies, with offers direct opportunities for business development in the UK and US.
• Creative Enterprise West (CREW) formally opened in April and will deliver tailored supports for companies in the creative technologies sector.
My Department has secured up to €145 million for the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme to support projects aligned to the REPs. This builds on the €126 million my Department has already allocated in regional enterprise funding. The West region has secured over €19.3 million in approved funding for nine innovative enterprise projects to date.
