Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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81. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on the progress made under the Mid-West Regional Enterprise Plan; the plans for its future funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23063/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Balanced regional enterprise development is a key focus for me and this Government as set out 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 Mid-West REP is implemented at a regional level by a Steering Committee made up of stakeholders from Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. Eamonn Murphy is Chair of the Mid-West REP Steering Committee which last met on 1 February 2024 where updates on implementation were shared with members.

My Department oversees implementation of the REPs at the national level. A meeting of the National Oversight Group for the REPs with Steering Committee Chairpersons took place on 25 April 2024, where the REP Chairs provided feedback on implementation.

Nine REP Progress Reports were recently published, which document implementation to the end of Q3 2023 for each plan, including the Mid-West. These reports were prepared by the regional Steering Committees and are available on my Department’s website. Good progress has been made implementing actions across the Mid-West REP.

Some highlights detailed in the Progress Report include:

• IDA Ireland’s new €40 million Digital Manufacturing Ireland, the national centre of excellence to aid digital transformation of manufacturing, was officially opened in Limerick in March 2023.
• Future Mobility Campus Ireland won the Proving Ground of the Year award at the Automotive Testing Technology International Awards 2022.
• The Technological University of the Shannon was awarded €1 million in funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to develop a bioeconomy demonstrator site in Lisheen, Co. Tipperary.
• €3.5 million from the Rural Regeneration Development Fund has been allocated to redevelop a vacant building at the Kilrush Marina, Co. Clare, as a Maritime Training Centre and research base for the offshore renewable energy sector.