Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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290. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the 2019 allocation by current and capital funding for her Department and each body under her remit in tabular form; and the corresponding 2018 allocation for each such body and her Department. [52813/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Expenditure Report 2019 which accompanied the Budget 2019 Statement by my colleague the Minister for Finance set out my Department’s summary capital and current expenditure ceilings for next year. The proposed gross allocation of €950.2 million for my Department in 2019 includes an increase in our capital funding from €555m to €620 million (an increase of 11.7%) and an increase in our current funding from €315.96m to €330.32m (an increase of 4.5%).

The definitive 2019 allocations for each of the Bodies/Agencies under the remit of my Department and for the Department itself will be set out in the 2019 Revised Estimates Volume which is expected to be published in the coming days.

Whilst the specifics of the allocations to the Department and the Bodies/Agencies operating under our aegis will only be confirmed on the publication of Rev 2019, the aforementioned increases in our capital and current ceilings will enable me to roll out a number of initiatives.

Insofar as capital expenditure is concerned, the increased capital funding which I secured for next year will allow for.

- The provision of a further €6m in funding to roll out the first phase of the new €300m Future Growth Loan scheme which addresses a specific lack of availability of finance to businesses, particularly SMEs, of loan terms longer than 5-7 years;

- An additional €1m to be provided to for Intertrade Ireland to enable it to meet the growing demand from businesses in border regions in its existing programmes;

- An additional €5m to be provided to the Local Enterprise Offices to enable them to expand the range of supports to indigenous enterprises across the various sectors, including through the provision of a new customs training programme for all businesses, exporters and importers, to be rolled out in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland;

- An additional €10m to be provided to the IDA to assist it in rolling out the next phase of its Regional Property Programme;

- An additional €2.75m to Enterprise Ireland to support a Regional Innovation and Technology Clusters Programme targeted at SMEs thereby building enterprise capability across the regions;

- The provision of €20m to fund the roll out of the first phase of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund;

- An additional €6m to SFI to fund the refresh of its Research Centres Programme and the strengthening of its industry partnerships;

- An additional €1m to the support the upscaling of the Tyndall Institute;

- An additional €10m to support the roll out of the new PHD doctorate programme;

- An additional €3.25m to support the expansion of our membership of International Research Organisations.

As regards current expenditure, the increased current funding secured for next year will allow for

- The provision of an additional €8m in funding to support the response of the Department and our Agencies to the Brexit challenge and to expanding our Global Footprint. This will include the provision of an additional €3m to Enterprise Ireland and €2m to IDA Ireland.

- The increased current funding will also allow for additional provision to be made to a number of the Department’s Regulatory Bodies, including the National Standards Authority of Ireland, the Health and Safety Authority and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to enable them to support businesses in meeting the challenge of Brexit.

- An additional €1m to be provided to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to support its transition to a statutory independent Agency and

- The provision of an additional €1m to the Workplace Relations Commission to enable it to take on additional functions

As advised the specific 2019 allocations to the Department and the Bodies/Agencies operating under our aegis will be confirmed in the 21019 Revised Estimates Volume which will be published shortly.