Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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203. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if the IDA and Enterprise Ireland can claw back grant aid to companies in instances in which the company has reneged and-or breached its agreed targets; and if he will provide a schedule including amount and company name of grants clawed back in the past 10 years. [17528/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised that in all instances where financial assistance is approved by IDA Ireland for a company, the Agency and the client enter into a legal and binding contract (grant agreement). The contract which is confidential, between IDA Ireland and the client company, includes conditions and milestones that are required to be achieved before any financial assistance is paid.

A company signs the grant agreement in full knowledge that the penalty for non-performance is the pro-rata repayment of the grant. IDA Ireland follows up the claw-back (revocation of grants) where the agreed performance targets have not been met or, if appropriate, in the event of a company closure. These cases are reported in the Agency’s Annual Financial Statements.

The table below outlines the number of companies and the total grants repaid to IDA Ireland each year for the past 10 years. IDA have advised the 2020 figure is not yet available for publication.

IDA Ireland are of the view that information such as company names is confidential and commercially sensitive as they are in ongoing relationships with many of the companies on existing and potentially new investments, and the companies continue to provide significant employment in Ireland.

Similarly, I am informed that the terms and conditions underpinning Enterprise Ireland grant approval to a company are detailed in the company’s Letter of Offer. In this document, it is stated that if the terms and conditions are not met, Enterprise Ireland reserves the right to claim back the approved grant aid. This reclaiming of grants can occur, for example, where an undertaking: has ceased to carry out the project; is the subject of an order or effective resolution for the winding up of the business; is the subject of a Receivership and/or Examinership; and is otherwise in breach of a Grant Agreement.

The table below outlines the number of Enterprise Ireland client companies each year for the last ten years that had approved grant reclaimed and the total amount of grant funding reclaimed. I am advised that Enterprise Ireland is not in a position to release the name of each company and the associated amount of grant reclaimed. The release of this information could potentially negatively impact these companies, causing financial or reputational damage to the company.