Mr. Ian Brannigan:

I will try to take the questions in order so as not to overlap. Ms Helen McHenry and I will answer between us as required. I thank the committee for the kind comments at the beginning. They were very helpful.

The Chairman asked for a little bit more detail on solar energy and biomass energy. It is easier to start with solar. Solar is very much nascent in our rural regional economy. We see it as a real opportunity. The point of the work now is really getting proof of concept, connections into the grid and solar farm proof of concept facilities. We are working with some energy co-ops to try to kick-start this and get it moving.

It is easier to speak about biomass energy as we have obviously been working on that for a lot longer. It is fair to say that we cut our teeth with some really good research working with the Departments, Coillte, etc., in the late 2000s when we wanted to see a step-change in the whole biomass industry in the west of Ireland, given that 40% of the assets, the wood, is in the region, but 40% of the supply chain and factors was not. It is hard to say whether we have achieved all of that, but at this point we are definitely well advanced. We have achieved quite a lot of micro-business growth. A good example would be the Donegal woodland co-op. This is a disparate group of farmers and foresters. We have used some of the money we have had there in programmes to move them from selling logs to garages to providing heat on a larger scale. They buy boilers and get ten-year contracts. They build, design and operate. We have used our money to make that sort of business change which gives them a greater security of supply, etc.

That is where we gained our expertise and cut our teeth. What I am proud to say now is that it is a scaled process. To step back, while we claim that we have been directly involved in around 2,700 jobs and directly and indirectly involved in about 5,000, we really need to be much better. We are looking at creating 19,000 or 20,000 jobs or more by 2020 to make a discernible difference in the region, bring the gross value added, GVA, up, etc. Every aspect of what we do needs to scale. That will come across in answering some of the Cathaoirleach's questions. Specifically around biomass, I did mention earlier that we have answered the questions of several local authorities about biomass being a viable fuel source. We have answered the question of whether it is hugely helpful for local enterprise - and I do mean local enterprise, because that is the supply chain to this. What we are now trying to do is to design the business solutions, without using too much jargon, that get the money in there to create the demand.

The big problem in the supply chain is demand. Broadly speaking, we need clients to use the heat. We have a couple of district heating schemes that have either advanced a little bit or are at the early stages and looking for money. As I said, through Deutsche Bank and the European energy efficiency fund, we received approval for €184,000 for a technical assistance fund along with one of the county councils in the region to bring forward the whole idea of a district heating level of around 2 MW to 3 MW. That would secure long-term fuel supplies for local providers of fuel.

That is the position we are in now. When I come back to answer Deputy Ó Cuív's questions and others around funding, one of the requirements for funding for us is to be able to fund these things directly rather than have to go to Europe. It is a very long, drawn-out process; it refers to patient investor principles.Energy contracts usually take a decade or more to pay back, but they are hugely job-rich and locally job-rich. It is not like a hydrocarbon project, which in plain speak is oil or gas, that transfers the money out of the State in the main and away from taxes and the Exchequer. This transfer the money in the main to the local economy where people can spend it and there is that lovely multiplier effect. That is where we are on biomass.

In terms of budgetary challenges, we represent around 828,000 people across the seven counties. We are a tiny organisation. Our direct budget, non-pay and pay, is roughly €1.5 million. I realise I am under privilege and I can be more exact than that if required. Essentially, the problem for us is that our non-pay has not changed since 2009. I realise that is reflected in other organisations as well. Our non-pay is around half a million euro. Take out what it costs to light and heat the places in which we work, and we are talking about a couple of hundred thousand euro to do everything we do. It is simply not enough. That is why one of the statements we made at the beginning was that since 2010, we have sourced €13 million of our own money from Europe, from contributions from local authorities and from devolved funds within the western investment fund to get out there and make a change. We could not have carried out the job creation we have carried out by relying on what we received through the Exchequer funding. Respectfully, we are putting a lot of positive pressure on to increase that. We have more people but we need more resources, or else a diminishing marginal returns issue arises. Without the resources, one cannot do anything. One can keep talking but cannot actually effect change.

The other budgetary challenge, as pointed out, is probably around the capital plan allocation of last year. We have had movement on that recently. That is a million euro per annum and we believe that it will be forthcoming to us. It will help us greatly to carry out several of the pilots that we were wishing to carry out in order to accelerate our job growth and employment work.

The Chairman asked a question about the benefit of working directly with the EU.

I will tie this into a question I was not asked, if I may with respect, and that is Brexit. The committee will see that we are using European capital more and more as risk capital in the regions because that is what we have to do. Brexit affords us an incredible opportunity. We are already seeing it. We are inundated with requests to partner from European groups and are working on this with local authorities and other collaborators in the region. What we need to do now is accelerate this capacity rapidly through the end of the current EU programme and position ourselves for the next seven-year cycle. That will allow us to really advance our cause in this field. There is a great deal of funding there which can really help to kickstart a great deal of employment and socioeconomic progress. To answer the Deputy's question directly, there is demand and we are taking the initial steps to look at a western regions office built around deal making not information over in Brussels. It is something we are working with all parties on, including the Department, in terms of how we do this because we believe it will garner huge responses monetarily and information-wise for the region.

On the next question on the spatial strategy, I will pass to my colleague.