Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Regional development is a key element of the Government's enterprise policy and is fully reflected in the Strategies of our Enterprise Development Agencies.

IDA Ireland is targeting that at least half of all investments - that is 400 of 800 - from 2021 to 2024 to regional locations. The IDA Mid-West Region, including County Clare, has 159 IDA client companies in the region, employing over 27,000 people, with 70 companies employing almost 6,000 in County Clare itself. The IDA works closely with the existing base of client companies to support their continued growth, as well as looking to locate new investments in the County, and over the past five years employment among IDA clients in Clare has increased by 20%.

Enterprise Ireland has also been instrumental in fostering a supportive environment for business growth in County Clare and through strategic initiatives and partnerships, focused on enhancing the employment attractiveness of the Mid-West region. Enterprise Ireland has 100 clients in County Clare that it works with that employ almost 5,200 people.

Furthermore, the Local Enterprise Office Clare Development Plan outlines a comprehensive framework for enterprise development in the area.

EI's commitment to creating jobs and supporting local enterprises is evident in the success stories of businesses in the county that have thrived with their assistance, contributing to the economic vitality of County Clare.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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69. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 30 of 8 February 2024, the status of the implementation of the West regional enterprise plan, REP, to 2024; the date of all meetings to date of the steering group; for an update on the most recent meeting of the steering group; if the West REP progress report, which was expected in quarter 1 of 2024, has been published to date; how many of the nine REP progress reports expected in quarter 1 of 2024 have been published to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16850/24]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Balanced regional enterprise development is a key focus for me and this Government, as reaffirmed in the White Paper on Enterprise. My Department contributes to this agenda in several ways, including through the development, implementation and oversight of nine Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs).

The West REP is implemented at a regional level by a Steering Committee made up of stakeholders from Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. Evelyn O’Toole is the Chairperson of the West REP Steering Committee and is supported by a Programme Manager based in the Western Development Commission.

My Department oversees the REPs at the national level. A meeting of the National Oversight Group for the REPs with Steering Committee Chairpersons is planned for Thursday 25 April where implementation across all REPs will be discussed.

Since the West REP was launched, the Steering Committee has met on 15 June 2022, 29 November 2022, 20 June 2023 and 1 March 2024.

I attended the most recent meeting of the West REP Steering Committee on 1 March 2024. The meeting took place in Ireland West Airport Knock (IWAK). At the meeting, the Programme Manager updated members on the progress being made on a variety of actions within the Plan. This included a presentation from the Northern and Western Regional Assembly on the economic performance of the region; an update from IWAK on their development activities; and an update from Enterprise Ireland on the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme.

The nine REP Mid-Term Progress Reports, including for the West, were published on Monday 8 April, last week. These Progress Reports document implementation to the end of Q3 2023 and are available on my Department’s website.

Good progress has been made implementing the West REP. Some highlights include:

• BIA Innovator Campus formally opened their premises in January. The campus runs a rich programme of supporting activities to help food businesses regardless of their lifecycle stage ad individual needs.
• In February, Platform94 formally launched their extension as well as the North-West Scaling programme for companies, with offers direct opportunities for business development in the UK and US.
• Creative Enterprise West (CREW) formally opened in April and will deliver tailored supports for companies in the creative technologies sector.