Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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32. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the type of projects eligible for support under the regional enterprise development fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38593/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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My Department’s Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF), is a competitive Fund that has been introduced to co-finance the development and implementation of collaborative and innovative enterprise projects that can make a significant impact on enterprise development in the regions so as to help sustain and add to employment at county, regional and national level.

There have been three calls under the Fund to date and just under €100 million in funding has been approved across 68 projects, with projects approved in every region.

REDF projects funded include SynbioHub in Cork which secured funding of over €3m to develop Ireland’s first Life Sciences ‘BioHub’. SCCUL Enterprises in Galway secured funding of €1.2m to support start-ups, SMEs and social enterprises, and a Future Mobility Campus based in Co. Clare has over €4.7m of approved funding to deliver a CAV test centre facility.

Successful projects under the REDF include enterprise-led clustering initiatives, innovation and technology partnership collaborations, enterprise centres, sectoral focused projects and entrepreneurial spaces.

Projects awarded funding under the REDF are closely aligned with the Strategic Objectives for enterprise development set out in my Department’s nine Regional Enterprise Plans.