Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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42. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for a report on the implementation of the South East Regional Enterprise Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30006/24]

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 South-East REP is implemented at a regional level by a Steering Committee made up of stakeholders from Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford. Patsy Carney is Chairperson of the South-East REP Steering Committee. I expect a Steering Committee meeting will be organised in the coming months.

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, including Mr Carney, took place on 25 April 2024. At that meeting the REP Chairpersons provided feedback on implementation and the future of the REPs initiative was also discussed.

As mentioned by Minister Higgins in her replies of 18 April and 23 May, nine REP Progress Reports have been published, which document implementation to the end of Q3 2023 for each plan, including the South-East. These reports were prepared by the Steering Committees and are available on my Department’s website. Good progress has been made implementing actions across the South-East REP.

Some highlights include:

• The South-East Technological University’s Walton Institute has developed an RD&I funding roadmap for companies. This documents how organisations can leverage a multitude of national and international financial supports to grow their RD&I capabilities in collaboration with academic institutions. The Walton Institute has presented this roadmap to a significant cohort of clients over the past number of months. The Walton Institute continually seeks to engage with the SME and industry community in the South-East, including offering Enterprise Ireland innovation vouchers for companies to work with them to explore how digital twin technology could revolutionise how a business operates.
• The South-East Offshore Wind Partnership is continuing its work to prepare the region to take advantage of the economic opportunity presented by offshore wind. A best practice field trip was completed in early May 2024 to the North-East of the UK to view the full scale of the opportunity including research and development facilities, enhanced Foreign Direct Investment, indigenous companies pivoting into offshore, port development, and education and training provision.