Regional enterprise development and sustainable local job creation is a key policy priority of mine and this Government.
My Department is currently overseeing the development of nine new Regional Enterprise Plans to 2024, including for the South-West region. I am working on the delivery of the new Plan in the South-West in conjunction with the dedicated team of regional stakeholders.
These are ‘bottom-up’ plans, developed by regional stakeholders who are working together to identify growth opportunities, recognise vulnerabilities, and to address ecosystem gaps, to enable sustainable job creation in businesses, including indigenous businesses, across the regions, through collaborative actions.
The new South-West Regional Enterprise Plan to 2024 which covers Cork and Kerry is being driven by a Regional Enterprise Plan Steering Committee, chaired by Patricia Quane, retired VP & General Manager of Astellas Ireland, and which includes Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, LEO’s, Local Authorities, Higher Education bodies, and others, all of whom are focused on creating and sustaining employment opportunities in the region.
The new South-West Plan to 2024 will complement and build on the core activities of the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs and the wider range of State Bodies involved in enterprise development in the region.
As an important part of developing the new South-West Plan, a facilitated virtual consultation event was held for regional stakeholders in the South-West in June, which has contributed to the focus of the new South-West Plan.
With guidance from my Department, the stakeholders considered a number of themes including: resilience and recovery in a post-Brexit, post-Covid-19 environment, including reskilling/upskilling needs; helping SMEs in the transition to low carbon and digitalisation; the development of key and emerging sectors; and finally Placemaking, including how to ensure the Region is equipped to take advantage of flexible work patterns. These topics are of particular relevance to considerations about creation of sustainable employment opportunities in the South-West region.
The regional stakeholders in the South-West region are currently finalising focused Strategic Objectives for their region with actions to deliver on these objectives. Once this is complete it is my expectation that the South-West Regional Enterprise Plan along with all the new Plans will be published and launched before the end of this year.
