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

There has been considerable investment, which is not to take away from the fact that we want to see more investment. Some €5.6 million was invested under the regional enterprise development fund, €22.3 million was invested under the rural regeneration fund and €9.1 million was invested under the urban regeneration and development fund. In my last Department, I established a €28 million Border economic stimulus package and that provided a support of €15 million for projects across the Border counties, which are also in this region.

The counties are Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Cavan and Monaghan. This was the first time ever there was a dedicated fund of that nature for a region. Those projects will make a significant difference to the north-west region, which will be particularly impacted by Brexit. Other elements of the Border economic stimulus package include an extra €3 million for the six local enterprise offices, an €8.5 million Brexit transformation fund to enable firms to transform their business and diversify their markets, and €1.5 million for industry fellowships. We need the targeted support, and the Border stimulus package is certainly doing that in the region.

See this speech in context