Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree that we need a strong city and regions. That is why I launched the regional enterprise plans. There are nine plans in total and I have travelled around the country to work with local stakeholders, including the local authorities, local enterprise offices, the agencies, the regional skills fora and Enterprise Ireland which are all coming together. The chairmen have put forward some really good plans. There is, therefore, a lot of good things happening in the regions. I was in The Hive in Carrick-on-Shannon in which 80 people are employed. This is a locally driven enterprise centre with plans to increase employment to 150. I was in the Food Hub in Drumshanbo which is the home of Drumshanbo Gin which is exported all over the world. All of these projects have been supported from the regional enterprise development fund in my Department. It is additional to all of the other funds that find their way into rural Ireland in which there is a huge amount of investment. I could start to list all of the areas and funding received. For example, the mid-east region has received €32 million. The mid-west region has received €50 million-----

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