Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 December 2019
300. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of members of each regional action plan implementation committee per region in tabular form; the gender breakdown; when each committee was first established; and the number of meetings to date. [50025/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs) initiative is a central pillar of the Government's ambition to create 200,000 new jobs by 2020, 135,000 of which are outside of Dublin. A key objective of each of the Plans is to have a further 10 to 15 per cent at work in each region by 2020, with the unemployment rate of each region not more than one percentage point above the national average.
The principle behind the Regional Enterprise Plans is collaboration between regional stakeholders on selected initiatives that can help to realise the region’s enterprise development potential. These stakeholders include: Local Authorities, the LEOs, the enterprise agencies, the Regional Skills Forum, tourism bodies, private sector ‘enterprise champions’, the Higher Education Institutes and others, who work together as part of a Steering Committee led by a chairperson drawn from the private sector. Steering Committees were first established under the Regional Action Plan for Jobs, and the structure has continued under the current Regional Enterprise Plans to 2020.
The role of the Steering Committees is to drive and monitor progress of each Regional Enterprise Plan. Committee meetings are a part in this role, however it is important to note that these meetings do not fully represent the work of Committee members, nor the full breadth of engagement with my Department.
For example, Committee members variously partake in structures such as working groups, sectorial teams, action-monitoring groups, among others. Each region may operate different structures to deliver their Enterprise Plan and this is largely at the discretion of the Committee and their Chairperson.
In September of this year, I met with the Chairpersons and representatives of each of the Regional Steering Committees to review progress on each the Regional Plans. I am pleased to say that implementation of the Plans is well underway in all regions.
The number of members on each Regional Enterprise Plan Steering Committee, the gender breakdown of these groups, the date each committee was first established, and the number of meetings to date are detailed below in tabular form.
|
Steering Committee |
No. of Members |
Male |
Female |
Committee established |
Meetings to date |
|
Dublin |
34 |
22 |
12 |
19/09/2016 |
7 |
|
Mid-East |
33 |
20 |
13 |
15/07/2016 |
4 |
|
Mid-West |
32 |
20 |
12 |
09/03/2016 |
6 |
|
Midlands |
35 |
25 |
10 |
02/03/2016 |
9 |
|
North-East |
33 |
25 |
8 |
25/04/2016 ** |
7 |
|
North-West |
37 |
30 |
7 |
25/04/2016 ** |
8 |
|
South-East |
50 |
38 |
12 |
26/11/2015 |
11 |
|
South-West |
38 |
21 |
17 |
08/03/2016 |
6 |
|
West |
41 |
30 |
11 |
18/04/2016 |
6 |
**Denotes the date when a committee for the North East/North West was established. This committee was subsequently divided into North East (26/1/'17) and North West (3/2/'17)
