Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Delivering sustainable, balanced regional enterprise growth is a core objective of this Government and is a key component of the recently published White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030.

My Department contributes to this agenda through a number of policy levers, including through the work of the Enterprise Agencies, Local Enterprise Offices and through implementation and oversight of nine Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs).

The REPs are bottom-up plans which facilitate regional stakeholders to work collaboratively to identify growth opportunities, recognise vulnerabilities, and in response strengthen the regional enterprise ecosystem.

Each REP is unique and is underpinned by an understanding of the local strengths and assets in each region. At a regional level, implementation is monitored by a regional Steering Committee which is chaired by a senior-level private sector businessperson.

Across a number of the REPs there is ambition to further the development of centres of excellence in various sectors of strength. For example, the development of a centre of excellence in the food sector in the Mid-East, for high performance buildings in the South-East, and sustainable energy in the Mid-West.

My Department has secured up to €145million in funding from the European Regional Development Fund which will support collaborative and innovation enterprise projects aligned to the Regional Enterprise Plans.

Furthermore, the White Paper recognises the impact the Government’s Smart Specialisation Strategy 2022-2027 will have in both driving increased levels of innovation performance and maximising opportunities for innovation diffusion across all our regions.

Smart Specialisation is an innovation policy concept developed by the European Commission to boost regional innovation, contributing to growth and prosperity by helping and enabling regions to focus on their strengths. This will promote broader benefits, including innovation-driven growth in regions and the promotion of sustainable growth models.

The Strategy also embraces a regional approach to addressing Ireland’s RD&I challenges. It provides a ‘bridge’ between regional and national innovation strategy building and decision-making, bringing coherence to RD&I planning for the benefit of enterprise and advancing the RD&I agenda regionally and nationally.

Through extensive stakeholder engagement at regional, national and European level, the Strategy identified regional economic and research strengths, along with emerging areas of opportunity.

My Department will also roll out a National Clustering Programme as part of the White Paper’s implementation. This Programme will work to maximise the scale, impact and international visibility of Irish clusters and cluster organisations, while also leveraging the benefits of proximity and co-location to boost regional and rural economic development outcomes.