Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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106. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department has considered adopting the economic model of community wealth building which has been successful in Ayrshire, Scotland and Preston, England. [43363/21]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, has put a strong emphasis on achieving more balanced regional and community development. My Department plays a very strong part in implementing that policy goal through a variety of policy initiatives and investments in the regions, including ‘bottom-up’ approaches that engage directly with community, county and regional initiatives to boost prosperity, as underpin initiatives such as community wealth building in Scotland and England.

One such initiative led by my Department is the Regional Enterprise Plans, which enables regional stakeholders themselves identify enterprise development priorities and develop solutions in partnership with Government to address these opportunities and/or vulnerabilities. To support the Regional Plans, my Department has made available over €117m in regional enterprise development funding to support locally-led regional enterprise development projects around the country.

My Department through the Local Enterprise Offices also helps people in every County who wish to start or grow a new locally based business, providing expert advice, tailored training and grants.

The Government is aware in particular of the challenges local towns face including those associated with the provision of adequate employment opportunities, addressing vacant and derelict properties, the impact of online shopping on town-centre retail, and the general move away from town-centre living and commercial activity.

In this context, the Programme for Government has committed to the development of a Town Centre First policy and an inter-Departmental Group has been established to consider the regeneration of our towns and villages, co-chaired by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Rural and Community Development. A representative from my Department is a member of this Group. I am pleased that a wider Stakeholder Advisory Group, chaired by Minister of State Peter Burke, has also been set up to harness the potential and capacity of a broad range of sectors including representation from the public sector, business, environmental, social and knowledge based sectors to guide the preparation of a Town Centre First approach.

Finally, through the principles contained in the National Planning Framework in terms of sustainable place-making, and the funding and other supports being made available to communities all over the country through for example Project Ireland 2040 Rural and Urban Funds, Town and Village Renewal Scheme, and LEADER/Local Development Companies etc., there is a strong focus on locally led economic development in Ireland.

We will continue to review good practice and engagement models nationally and internationally for any additional insights they may offer for enterprise policy.

Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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107. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on the North-West Regional Enterprise Plan. [43805/21]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Regional enterprise development and sustainable local job creation is a key policy priority of mine and this Government.

My Department is currently overseeing the development of nine new Regional Enterprise Plans to 2024.

These are ‘bottom-up’ plans, developed by regional stakeholders which will identify growth opportunities, recognise vulnerabilities, and enable job creation across the regions including in the North-West region through collaborative regional actions.

The new North-West Plan to 2024 which covers Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo, will build on the core activities of the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs and the wider range of State Bodies involved in supporting enterprise development in the region.

My Departmental colleague, Minister Damien English and myself are driving the delivery of the Regional Enterprise Plans at the national level, and I have myself been engaging directly with the stakeholders in the North-West in the preparation of their new Plan to 2024. I recently met with the outgoing chairperson Philip Martin, CORA Systems and the Programme Manager to receive an update on the development of the new Plan and am very pleased with the progress being made, and the level of engagement being received. A new Chair for the North-West Steering Committee will shortly be announced.

The regional stakeholders in the North-West region are currently working to finalise focused Strategic Objectives for their region, and actions to deliver on these objectives and intend to sign off on the new North-West Plan in the coming weeks.

Once this has been done the intention is to publish all nine new Plans including for the North-West region, in quarter 4 this year.

My Department through Enterprise Ireland has made available €0.5 million in Feasibility Funding with grants of up to €50,000 on a 50% match fund basis through the Regional Enterprise Transition Scheme which can be leveraged to develop nascent initiatives emerging from the Regional Enterprise Plans. A closing date of October 1st 2021 applies to this funding.