Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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294. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the State organisations that have a North-South enterprise development remit by their activities and by the budgets that have been allocated and spent in this work in the past five years. [1030/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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InterTrade Ireland, the North South Body which is co-funded by my Department, is the only dedicated North South enterprise development organisation which comes under my remit. It operates a range of business development activities and is traditionally co-funded by my Department and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland on a 2:1 (South:North) basis. My Department’s contribution to the Body’s total annual budget for the last five years has ranged from €6.638m to €8.164m. The variation in these figures is partly attributable to the fact that InterTrade Ireland’s main operating currency is sterling. The fluctuating exchange rate, together with other related factors, has therefore necessitated adjustments which are reflected in the relevant yearly allocations. The contribution paid by the Northern Ireland authorities for 2015 was also reduced and their contribution for 2016 has not yet been settled.

Other Development organisations which come within my remit, such as Enterprise Ireland and the border counties’ Local Enterprise Offices, have, on occasion, engaged in North-South activities. However, the primary focus of those bodies entails activities solely within this jurisdiction and they do not have specific financial allocations for cross border activities.