Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

White Paper on Enterprise Policy: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Mr. David Hegarty:

There is no problem with an organic, bottom-up approach either, but our sense is that in those countries and regions we looked at, the approach is more driven by an understanding of national or regional constraints, opportunities and weaknesses. Our approach up to now has probably been more that we put out calls and invitations through Enterprise Ireland for proposals to come forward. That is fine, and the White Paper does not suggest that we would abandon what we are doing. However, it needs to be complemented by a programme that would fund cluster organisations that are on a bigger scale than those we have now. That could include, for example, things like offshore wind and perhaps certain technologies, including artificial intelligence. None of that has been decided yet and we are working on a programme in that area now. Perhaps Ms Gavin would like to comment.