Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) aims to contribute to a sustainable, equitable, green and digital recovery effort, in a manner that complements and supports the Government’s broader recovery effort.

It is in this context that €85 million in funding is being made available to my Department to support the “Digital Transformation of Enterprise” Measure under Ireland’s NRRP. This funding is being focused into:

• The development of the “Grow Digital” portal - through the Digital Transition Fund (DTF)
• Direct supports to enterprise for digitalisation - through the Digital Transition Fund (DTF)
• Four European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs).

As of the end of Q2 2024, 372 direct grant support projects had been approved to the value of €35.5 million under the DTF, with €7.21 million in claims already made with respect to approved projects as of the end of Q2 2024.

As of end of Q2 2024, there has been €6.74 million in expenditure to EDIHs under the Digital Transformation of Enterprise measure of the NRRP.

€55 million is also being made available to my Department to support the “ Green Transition Fund” under Ireland’s NRRP. This funding is for a range of business supports, including:

• vouchers to help companies prepare a plan for the low-carbon and resource efficient economy of the future;
• capital support for companies to invest in decarbonising their manufacturing processes;
• and grants to explore the development of new or improved products, services or processes in the areas of sustainability and decarbonisation.

The Green Transition Fund (GTF) targets manufacturing companies using fossil fuels and incentivises them to adopt Co2 abatement technologies in their processes by focussing on potential cost savings and abatement. This is accomplished through the installation of Energy Metering and Monitoring Control Systems and investment in carbon-neutral, low to medium temperature process heating.

As of the end of Q2 2024, 384 direct grant support projects had been approved to the value of €12.1 million, €1.75 million of which has been paid out to companies under the Green Transition Fund (GTF).

Table 1 sets out the claims made to the end of Q2 2024 across the DTF, EDIHs and GTF, and the projected claims over the coming years across these measures.

My officials are closely monitoring the activity levels and claims across the DTF, EDIHs and GTF and engage on a regular basis with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta (the three agencies who are administering these schemes for my Department) to identify and take actions as required to ensure appropriate progression is being made.

The European Commission have set out milestones and targets for each of the measures under the NRRP and these milestones and targets must be met by specific dates in order for Ireland to claim funds through the Resilience and Recovery Facility.

My Department is very focused on the delivery of these milestones and targets. Indeed, the milestone for the DTF has already been achieved on time and evidence of completion of this milestone formed part of Ireland’s first Resilience and Recovery Facility payment request to the EU. Evidence of the completion of the milestones for the EDIHs and the GTF will form part of Ireland’s second Resilience and Recovery Facility payment request, which is currently being prepared.

The “Grow Digital” portal, funded under the Digital Transition Fund, was launched in July 2024 and provides a platform that allows enterprise to assess their digital capability and then advise on the supports available to improve their offering through digital technologies.

It is important that Ireland forges ahead with its objectives of delivering the green and digital transitions. My Department is determined to avail of the funding available through the EU’s Resilience and Recovery Facility to support Ireland’s enterprise base in these transitions.

Table 1.

-	Claims made to end of H1 2024	Projected claims in H2 2024	Projected claims in 2025	Projected claims in 2026	Projected claims beyond 2026
Digital Transition Fund	€7.21 million	€8.34 million	€11.6 million	€13.62 million	€29.26 million
EDIHs	€6.74 million	€2.55 million	€3.45 million	€2.22 million	0
Green Transition Fund	€1.75 million	€3.2m	€8.3 million	€10.2 million	€31 million