Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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475.To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will indicate the nature of the projects supported by the regional enterprise funds operated by his Department in each of the regions in the past five years and the value of the support in each year; and if he will outline his ambition for further projects in the coming years.[35013/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Balanced regional development is a priority of mine and of Government. Government has provided substantial funding through a number of enterprise funding schemes to assist regions to support enterprise activity, promote regional growth and create jobs.

Since 2017, my Department, through Enterprise Ireland, has approved funding for 79 enterprise focused projects through the Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF), Border Enterprise Development Fund (BEDF) and the Regional Enterprise Transition Scheme (RETS). In 2022 Enterprise Ireland provided additional funding through an addendum fund to existing REDF and BEDF projects impacted by increased construction costs to allow for the completion of eligible projects as originally planned.

The 2022 Regional Enterprise Innovation Scoping Scheme (REISS) provided priming and feasibility funding support for early stage projects to develop their plans and preparation for the development of concepts with potential for enterprise innovation. Forty-nine projects were approved funding to drive the development of new projects.

In total, the Department has approved over €141 million in enterprise funding under the REDF, BEDF, RETS, Addendum fund and REISS across all regions of the country.

These funding schemes have supported regional enterprise projects including large infrastructure projects, food hubs, development of new enterprise hubs, expansion of existing facilities, enterprise led clustering initiatives, and programmatic supports in every region of the country.

• Dublin secured €12.4 million for seven projects under the REDF
• Mid-East region secured €9.8 million for five projects under the REDF
• Midlands region secured €6.4 million for five projects under the REDF
• South-East region secured €8.1 million for eight projects under the REDF
• South-West region secured €18.8 million for fourteen projects under the REDF
• Mid-West region secured €16.6 million for seven projects under the REDF
• West region secured €19 million for eight projects under the REDF
• North-West region secured €7.8 million for five projects under the REDF and €9.7 million for four projects under the BEDF
• North-East region secured €11.6 million for six projects under the REDF and €8.7 million for seven projects under the BEDF

The scheme will support enterprise development through local enterprise infrastructure projects, innovation clusters, delivery of programmatic services to SMEs and early-stage feasibility and priming research. The first call of €35 million was announced in October 2023 and is open for applications on Enterprise Ireland’s website. I expect to be in a position to announce the first tranche of successful projects in the coming months. There will be further calls under the Smart Regions scheme in the coming years.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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476.To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the economic clusters which his Department and its agencies currently support; the location of the main hub for each; and if he will outline his plans for developing a more comprehensive clustering strategy to develop opportunities, and to accelerate the adoption of sustainable circular principles and appropriate digital transformation.[35015/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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To date, my Department has supported the development of regional clusters through a number of funding schemes including the Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF), the Border Enterprise Development Fund (BEDF) and the Regional Technology Clustering Fund (RTCF).

">Regional Clusters

The three calls under the REDF all included funding streams to support enterprise led clustering initiatives to stimulate enterprise clustering and support the development of established clusters. BEDF also included supports for enterprise led clustering initiatives designed to stimulate enterprise clustering and also support the further growth and development of established clusters and networks in a regional, cross-regional or national setting

The Regional Technology Clustering Fund was launched in 2019 with the aim of supporting Institute of Technologies and Technological Universities to establish and develop clusters to achieve increased SME productivity, drive SME competitiveness and support internationalisation activity. €4.6 million in funding was approved for 12 Educational Outreach Managers who are aligned to a particular sector and engage with relevant SMEs, multinational companies and start-ups.

Details of the main hub for each of the existing clusters supported by my Department are set out at the link above.

The White Paper on Enterprise 2022 to 2030 sets out a vision for for Irish-based enterprise to succeed through competitive advantage founded on sustainability, innovation and productivity, delivering rewarding jobs and livelihoods, with particular reference to the twin transitions of green and digital. It recognises clustering as a key tool for achieving enterprise policy objectives, including driving innovation, attracting and embedding FDI and developing linkages between multinationals and indigenous firms. It proposes the establishment of a National Clustering Programme (NCP), with a target to fund 5 national cluster organisations by 2025, and the establishment of a central coordination entity to bring coherence to the current ad hoc landscape around clustering in Ireland.

The proposed approach for the development of the NCP is to adopt a layered programme, in line with the findings of the Grant Thornton report on an evidence base for the development of a national clustering policy. Clusters of national scale will receive the highest level of NCP funding, with provision being made to fund, on a lesser scale, emerging clusters and existing clusters demonstrating the ability to transition to a national level. This approach will also enable the ongoing funding of smaller and emerging clusters from existing programmes, subject to the rules of those programmes, while incentivising clusters to move to national scale. In the event that a cluster is not successful in their application for NCP funding they can still apply to be recognised as part of the NCP if they meet certain criteria.

The draft NCP has been the subject of a review by the Competitiveness Institute (TCI) Network which involved a workshop with engagement with over 70 stakeholders from the Irish clustering ecosystem in Trinity College Dublin last May, facilitated by three international clustering experts. The international expert report is currently being finalised and, subject to their findings, it is proposed to publish the NCP in Q3 of 2024.

My Department’s support for clustering will also continue through the new Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme, which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The scheme is aimed at accelerating economic growth in all regions of the country, by working with stakeholders to deliver on their potential regional enterprise strengths, taking an entrepreneurial ecosystem approach aligned with the nine Regional Enterprise Plans.

Stream 2 of the Smart Regions Scheme recognises the importance of clustering and is aimed at supporting innovation clusters and consortia. The funding will provide support to enable personnel to drive collaboration, marketing and managing of the cluster or consortium.