The administration and evaluation of Enterprise Ireland's productivity improvement fund is a day to day matter for the agency itself, and not one in which I am directly involved. The productivity improvement fund (PIF) was launched in May 2005. The initiative is primarily aimed at encouraging client companies, of both Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development, to undertake investments in capital equipment, technology acquisition and training projects. It is envisaged that productivity improvement projects, approved under this fund, will assist recipient companies in increasing exports, or establishing a base from which they can develop their exports.
Since the productivity improvement fund was launched in May 2005, 147 companies have been approved funding totalling €29.178m. In 2005, 39 companies were approved funding totalling €8.533m. In 2006, to date, 108 companies were approved funding totalling €20.645m. The €29 million approved by the fund has resulted in leveraging investments of €55 million from companies, bringing the total projected spend by companies to circa €84million. Under the PIF scheme, companies have two years from the date of initial letter of offer, to start drawing down the grant. Since the launch of the scheme, 21 companies have had payments made to them, these payments amounted to €1.660m. The following table outlines payments and approvals made to companies under the scheme in 2005 and 2006. The companies who have been approved funding to date have committed to undertaking projects that will be implemented over a two year period. As the scheme was only launched in May 2005, the majority of projects have not yet been completed, and it is therefore too early to conduct a full impact assessment of the funding on client company performance. However, I am informed that Enterprise Ireland plan to commence an interim review of the scheme in December 2006.
2005 Productivity Improvement Fund Approvals
|
Productivity Fund
|
Companies Approved 2005
|
Total Funding Allocated
|
No. of Applications Received
|
Total Funding Requested
|
|
|
€
|
|
€
|
|
Industrial & Life Sciences Markets
|
22
|
5,212,067
|
41
|
10,423,476
|
|
Food & Retail Consumer Markets
|
16*
|
3,239,347*
|
31
|
6,990,243
|
|
Software Services & Emerging Sectors
|
1
|
81,627
|
1
|
81,627
|
|
Total
|
39*
|
8,533,041*
|
73
|
17,495,346
|
*Includes 2 Shannon Approvals (total funding approved €435,825 — Capital: €293,721; Training: €142,104).
2006 Productivity Improvement Fund Approvals
|
Productivity Fund
|
No. of Approvals to date
|
Total Funding Allocated
|
No. of Applics. Received
|
Total Funding Requested
|
|
|
€
|
|
€
|
|
Industrial & Life Sciences Markets
|
66*
|
14,278,335
|
99#
|
22,419,351
|
|
Food & Retail Consumer Markets
|
35
|
5,512,243
|
53
|
11,707,663
|
|
Software Services & Emerging Sectors
|
7
|
854,117
|
13
|
2,095,952
|
|
Total
|
108
|
20,644,695
|
128
|
36,222,966
|
*Includes 8 Shannon Development Client approvals/total funding allocated €2,011,756 (Capital: €1,143,500/Training: €868,256).
#Includes 5 Shannon Development Client applications.
PIF Cumulative Payments to 3rd November 2006
|
Agency
|
|
Total Amount Paid Today
|
|
No. of Companies
|
Cap/TA
|
Training
|
Total
|
|
Enterprise Ireland
|
19
|
1,271,550
|
79,832
|
1,351,382
|
|
Shannon Development
|
2
|
288,971
|
19,613
|
308,584
|
|
Total
|
21
|
1,560,521
|
99,445
|
1,659,966
|
PIF Claims on Hand to 3rd November 2006
|
Agency
|
|
Total Claims on Hand
|
|
No. of Companies
|
Cap/TA
|
Training
|
Total
|
|
Enterprise Ireland
|
15
|
920,852
|
124,722
|
1,045,574
|
|
Shannon Development
|
1
|
5,094
|
1,625
|
6,719
|
|
Total
|
16
|
925,946
|
126,347
|
1,052,293
|
