Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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90. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on the south-east regional enterprise plan. [60813/21]

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State might have seen the beautiful piece in the Irish Independent this week on Carlow, highlighting the great enterprise, education and innovation going on there. I am very proud of that, as a Carlow woman. I ask him for an update on the south-east regional enterprise plan.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for tabling this question. We do not need to read about Carlow in theIrish Independent. Not a week goes by when Deputy Murnane O'Connor does not raise Carlow either here or in the parliamentary party meeting.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Not an hour goes by.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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It needs to be done.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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My colleague has corrected me by saying not an hour goes by.

Regional enterprise development and sustainable local job creation are key policy priorities of mine and of the Government. My Department is overseeing the development of nine new regional enterprise plans. These are bottom-up plans, developed by regional stakeholders which identify growth opportunities, recognise vulnerabilities and enable job creation across the regions including in the south-east region through collaborative regional actions. The new south-east plan which covers Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford will build on the core activities of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the local employment offices and the wider range of State bodies involved in supporting enterprise development in the region.

I have responsibility for driving the delivery of the new plan in the south east, and over the past year I have engaged directly with the regional steering committee made up of our enterprise agencies, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the local enterprise offices, local authorities, higher and further education bodies, businesses and others in the south east. That committee is chaired by Patsy Carney, director of Kinetic Labs.

The regional stakeholders in the south-east region have signed off on five focused strategic objectives together with supporting actions for the region on starting and growing businesses, green growth, smart specialisation, innovation and placemaking.

It is my Department’s intention to publish the south-east plan and launch it early in 2022.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome that. The Minister of State mentioned Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford. I welcome the job announcements for Kilkenny and Waterford this year but Carlow got none. Carlow really needs to be looked at. We are the smaller county. I ask the Minister of State to do what he can. I welcome that he will be launching the regional plans and in particular the one for the south east. I have been working with IDA Ireland and I welcome that there is a new build for Carlow. I understand that facility will be ready in July 2022. That was meant to have been done five years earlier in 2017 but the building is nearly complete. We are delighted with that, but we need to promote Carlow more. What is the update on jobs for Carlow?

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The previous regional enterprise plan had significant investment in Carlow. Two projects were supported. Insurtech Network Centre in Carlow, which supports technology solutions to the global insurance services sector, received €1.4 million and the National Design Innovation Hub received €1.843 million. Under the previous regional plan there was significant investment in Carlow. I hope there will be further investment in Carlow under the new regional action plan, which, as I have outlined, will be published early in the new year. It is a plan specific for the south-east region, devised by the people in that region who know the region best and know what is needed and where the investment needs to be made to support job creation.

The Deputy mentioned IDA Ireland. She will be aware that IDA Ireland published its strategy earlier this year and for the first time one of its key pillars is to have 50% of new investment in the regions during the lifetime of this plan. That is a significant commitment to regional development

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for that. I welcome the action plan which is very important. These regional plans are very important so that we look after our smaller towns, such as Bagenalstown, Tullow and Hacketstown in my area, where I hold clinics. Broadband is another issue we need to address, along with that of keeping our small companies going. However, jobs are the big thing particularly now that we are going to have a technological university for the south east. We have so much to offer. Carlow will be a major priority for me - Carlow-Kilkenny - and I will be looking for jobs there.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I reiterate that the plan will be published early next year. The plan is devised by the people of the south east. I am very confident that there are objectives and targets for every county in the south east and it will not just concentrate on one particular county. When I engaged with the stakeholders, I stressed that if it is to be successful, it must have buy-in from all counties; all counties must be supported.