Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 9 July 2025
Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Revised)
2:00 am
Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has raised a few points. On regional development, that is where we want to see things going under the national planning framework. I am constantly pushing IDA Ireland to increase FDI in the regions. We are at approximately 55% at the moment. Enterprise Ireland is doing better at north of 60%. We need to get more investment into the regions. This is going to be critical.
We had a response to our reports and our supply chains and innovation in our offshore and renewable sector through Powering Prosperity. We have 40 actions that we were working right across the sector with the Minister for climate to try to get additional investment in. Cork has a significant proposal in with the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, the investment bank. That will provide significant enhancement to the logistics that are required. Six applications are going through on the east coast.
We are planning reform of the CCPC. This is currently being examined by the Government and it is included in the programme for Government. We have significant powers at the moment to investigate practices that are anti-competitive in our grocery sector. The Minister of State, Deputy Alan Dillon, has reopened an investigation that concluded last year. He has asked the commission to update its study and that is under way. We will see what the result of it is.
I am all for multi-annual funding. The national development plan, which we are trying to negotiate now, is key for important projects of common European interest, IPCEI, and areas like that where there are analogue devices doing a massive regional project in the semiconductor sector, while supporting more than 600 jobs. There could be 50 patents out of it. Those are key areas that need to be invested in with European support and in common with other countries. In the context of multi-annual funds, it is going to be part our NDP ask to have a competitive fund. That is all for negotiation soon.