Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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148. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the breakdown of the €251,946,000 capital allocation in jobs and enterprise development within her Department for 2019 by specific project; the projects that will be commenced and completed in 2019, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6042/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The following table sets out the breakdown of the capital allocation of €251,946,000 across my Department’s Jobs & Enterprise Development programme.

As the Deputy will be aware, much of the Department’s Capital expenditure is by way of multi-annual programmes and commitments. The Deputy will appreciate that capital supports provided through the Department’s Jobs and Enterprise Development Programme are focused on developing and promoting enterprise. These supports are mainly by way of grants to our Enterprise Agencies such as the IDA to enable them to attract Foreign Direct Investment and to EI, the Local Enterprise Offices and Intertrade Ireland to enable them to support local indigenous and cross border businesses to start, scale and export. My Department’s Jobs and Enterprise Development Programme also supports a number of specific initiatives in the area of access to finance for SMEs and other indigenous businesses.

The 2019 capital allocation to the Department’s Enterprise Development Programme represents an increase of 10.9% on the 2018 allocation of €227.195m for this Programme. The additional €24.75m in capital monies secured for the Department’s Programme in 2019 will ensure for;

- the provision of a further €6m in capital funding to support the continued roll out of the new 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

- €1m in additional funding for Intertrade Ireland which will enable it to meet the growing demand from businesses in border regions in its existing programmes, and develop initiatives and support firms affected by Brexit;

- €5m in additional funding 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;

- €10m in additional funding for the IDA's Regional Property Programme;

- €2.75m in funding to support a Regional Innovation and Technology Clusters Programme targeted at SMEs thereby building enterprise capability across the regions

The provision of this additional capital funding demonstrates the Government’s determination to continue to ensure that the Department’s Enterprise Agencies has the necessary capital resources to enable them to support businesses in their responses to Brexit including support them in delivering jobs and enterprise development in all regions of the country in these challenging times.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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149. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the breakdown of the €368,054,000 capital allocation in innovation within her Department for 2019 by specific project; the projects that will be commenced and completed in 2019, in tabular from; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6043/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The table below sets out the breakdown of the capital allocation of €368,054,000 across my Department’s Innovation programme.

The Deputy will appreciate that much of the capital supports provided through the Department’s Innovation Programme are by way of grants to develop and promote Innovation including supporting research focused bodies such as SFI, Enterprise Ireland, Tyndall Institute, supporting Ireland’s membership of International Research Organisations such as the European Space Agency, the European Southern Observatory and other Research focused Agencies.

The 2019 capital allocation to the Department’s Innovation Programme represents an increase of 12.28% on the 2018 allocation of €327.8m. The additional €40 m in capital monies secured for the Innovation Programme in 2019 will support a number of new initiatives, including

- The provision of €20million to roll out First Phase of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund; The provision of an additional €2.75million in capital monies to meet the full year cost of European Southern Observatory membership;

- The provision of an additional €10million in capital funding to meet the full year cost of the new PhD/Research Masters Programme;

- The provision of an additional €500k in capital funding to further support our membership of the European Space Agency

- The provision of additional €5million in capital to support the renewal of six SFI world-class research centres,

- The provision of an additional €1million in capital for SFI’s Strategic Partnership Programme;

- The provision of an additional €1million in funding to support the development of the Tyndall Institute

The provision of this additional capital funding demonstrates the Government’s commitment to supporting business to enable them to innovate and compete in a global marketplace as envisaged in Innovation 2020 the Government’s national strategy for Research & Development.