Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

138. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide an update on the Mid-West Regional Enterprise Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8923/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Delivering balanced regional growth and job creation is a core objective of this Government and is a key component in the recently published White Paper on Enterprise.

My Department contributes to this agenda in a number of ways, including through oversight of development and implementation of nine Regional Enterprise Plans.

A key feature and strength of the Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs) to 2024, is that they are developed using a ‘bottom-up’ approach, by regional stakeholders who are keenly aware of the growth opportunities and vulnerabilities in their region, and of the benefits of working collaboratively.

The Mid-West Plan covers counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary and was launched in Nenagh on the 14^thFebruary 2022.

Each Plan is overseen and monitored by a Steering Committee made up of regional stakeholders and chaired by a senior level private sector businessperson. The Mid-West Steering Committee is chaired by Professor Eamonn Murphy.

Since publication and launch, the Mid-West Steering Committee have met and implementation of the five strategic objectives and related actions is underway.

I hope to attend a meeting of the Steering Committee in the Mid-West in the near future to hear first-hand, the activity ongoing across all objectives.

In October 2022, the National Oversight Group (NOG) met to discuss implementation overall. The NOG includes all Chairs of the REP Steering Committees and senior representation from the Enterprise agencies, Head of LEO network, CCMA and others. Paraic Rattigan, REP Programme Manager represented the Mid-West at that meeting.

Securing funding to assist implementation has been a priority. My Department has secured up to €145m in funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) over the next number of years to support projects coming from the Regional Enterprise Plans. Officials are working with Enterprise Ireland on developing the scheme with the aim of announcing the first call of around €35m in the coming months. This funding will support innovative enterprise focused projects across all regions.

The Mid-West has performed particularly well under previous regional enterprise schemes, securing over €16 million in approved funding.

By focusing on the strengths of the region and by taking advantage of collaborative funding opportunities I am hopeful the Mid-West will continue to build on their previous successes.