Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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265. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if there is an additional strand to a funding programme (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51696/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) represents part of my Department’s commitment to stimulating economic growth throughout the regions. The overall aim of the REDF is to support every region to build on its unique strengths and ultimately create sustainable jobs. Collaboration is at its core – among the public and private sectors, within and across regions.

The REDF support the development of initiatives that help to strengthen the ability of the regions in achieving high impact on economic development, job creation and enterprise development at a regional level.

The Fund has four streams:

- Stream Oneto support major regional, multi-regional or national sectorial initiative grants of €2m up to €5m per project in funding towards capital and current costs. These initiatives should be focussed on achieving defined enterprise development outputs and impacts.

- Stream Twoto support significant county, regional or multi-regional sectorial and or enterprise initiative grants of €250k up to €2m per project in funding towards capital and current costs. These projects should be focussed on delivery of defined enterprise development outputs and impacts.

- Stream Threefor local and community enterprise initiative grants of €50k up to €250k per project in funding towards capital and current costs. These projects should be focussed at a local, county or regional initiative that have defined metrics for enterprise development in the area.

- Stream Fourto support significant Industry Clustering initiatives with grants of €50k up to €250k per project in funding towards current costs.  These projects should support industry-led groups to maximise the benefits of collaborative opportunities where the results of the activity will have some identifiable and measurable impact on their business.

Stream four in particular seeks to support Industry Clusters either already established or newly formed and designed to stimulate innovative activity through mutual interests such as promotional activities, sharing of facilities and exchange of knowledge and expertise and by contributing effectively to knowledge transfer, networking, information dissemination and collaboration among the undertakings and other organisations and relevant stakeholders in the cluster. This allows for smaller industry-connected enterprises to join such consortia in the application for funding through the REDF scheme.