Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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162. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the degree to which he continues to encourage and foster job opportunities throughout the regions with particular reference to the need to ensure an even spread of employment opportunities nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43868/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Regional enterprise development and sustainable local job creation is a key policy priority for Government; we are committed to creating jobs and maintaining full employment in all regions across the country as set out in the White Paper on Enterprise.

Performance targets in the White Paper include metrics related to unemployment, new FDI investments and new jobs created outside of Dublin.

Many of the leading target metrics for the White Paper continued to exhibit strong performance figures up to end June 2024, showcasing the White Paper’s focus on creating a more prosperous, inclusive and regionally balanced enterprise base.

At the end of June 2024, full employment was maintained nationally. The employment situation remains well-balanced regionally, with only one region, the South-East, exceeding the national unemployment level by more than one percentage point, as of end June 2024.

The Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs) are an integral part of Ireland’s enterprise policy, aimed at driving economic growth and sustaining better standards of living throughout Ireland. These are bottom-up plans, developed by regional stakeholders that focus on undertaking collaborative initiatives that can help strengthen the regional enterprise ecosystem thereby realising enterprise growth and supporting job creation in each of the nine regions across Ireland.

A meeting of the National Oversight Group for the REPs, where implementation across all REPs will be discussed, is planned for Wednesday 6 November. I have decided, in consultation with key stakeholders in the REPs initiative, to extend the current plans for one year to the end of 2025 to allow for further implementation of current objectives and actions.

Up to €145 million has been secured for the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme, co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund, which will support projects aligned to the REPs. The Scheme will support the development of local enterprise infrastructure, innovation clusters, delivery of services to SMEs and early-stage feasibility and priming research. The Smart Regions Scheme builds on over €150 million in regional enterprise development funding allocated by my Department since 2017 through various Enterprise Ireland schemes and funds.

The 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) play an important role at local level, as part of a supportive ecosystem, providing their services direct to small businesses and promoting entrepreneurship within towns and communities across the country. They are the first stop shop for all businesses regardless of sector with over 370,000 small businesses eligible for some type of support from the LEOs.

The LEOs’ Annual Employment Results show that the LEOs now have a portfolio of 7,167 small businesses that account for 38,726 jobs across the country. 82% of these jobs are provided by businesses outside of Dublin, which again reflects this Government’s ambitions for balanced regional development.

Enterprise Ireland’s commitment to regional development is evident in its ambitious targets and comprehensive support programmes. Its strategy has set a target of creating 45,000 new jobs by 2024, two-thirds of which will be created outside Dublin. This approach is designed to mitigate the concentration of economic activity in the capital and promote balanced regional growth. In 2023, 225,495 people were employed by Enterprise Ireland client companies across Ireland. This represents an increase of 5,011 net jobs gained in 2023. More than two thirds, 68% of new jobs, were created outside Dublin. This regional focus is crucial for fostering economic resilience and ensuring that growth benefits are distributed more evenly across the country.

IDA Ireland is central to supporting the growth and stability of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) businesses, and year on year it has created pathways for companies across the globe to invest in Ireland. Ireland continues to be recognised as a highly stable and attractive location for FDI. IDA has over 1,800 client companies within its portfolio employing 300,583 people at the end of 2023. 163,471 or 54% of client employment is outside Dublin.

Regional development is a priority for IDA Ireland, which is targeting that at least half of all investments - that is 400 of 800 - from 2021 to 2024 will be in regional locations outside Dublin.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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163. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which adequate incentives remain available to encourage the indigenous sector with particular reference to job creation enterprises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43869/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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My Department’s White Paper on Enterprise to 2030 sets out an ambitious vision for Ireland’s enterprise policy to protect Ireland’s strong economic position. It provides for a sustainable, innovative and high-productivity economy, with rewarding jobs and livelihoods in the period ahead. My Department is fully committed to advancing the interests of SMEs in Ireland and the performance of our enterprise development agencies is key to our strategic objective of creating and maintaining high quality employment across all parts of our country.

Enterprise Ireland provides funding and other supports with the objective of increasing the potential employment and sales growth of businesses, supporting regional development, increasing the productivity and innovation in indigenous businesses, and increasing exports. Enterprise Ireland’s results for 2023 show the progress that it has made in supporting and driving the creation of new enterprises in the indigenous sector at a national and regional level. Employment in client companies of Enterprise Ireland increased to a total of 225,495 in 2023, the highest ever recorded. The total number of jobs created was 15,530. When job losses are considered, there was a positive net jobs result of 5,011 in a very challenging year for businesses.

Regional development is a key priority for this Government, and it is important that the value of collaboration and the work of the development agencies, which has yielded strong jobs results in recent years, is complemented by a bottom-up approach in providing critical business supports and advice. 68% of new jobs created in 2023 in companies supported by Enterprise Ireland were located outside the Dublin region. Eight out of nine regions recorded net jobs growth, with the West region (+5%), the North-East region (+5%) and the North-West region (+4%) performing particularly strongly.

The 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) play an extremely important role at local level, as part of a supportive ecosystem, providing their services to small businesses and promoting entrepreneurship within towns and communities across the country. They are the first stop shop for all businesses regardless of sector with over 370,000 small businesses eligible for some type of support from the LEOs.

The results of the 2023 Annual Employment Survey were extremely positive with LEO client companies creating 6,640 new jobs, which represents a 10th consecutive year of jobs growth since the LEOs were established in 2014 and indicated a net job increase in each of the 31 Local Authority areas. The figures show that the LEOs now have a portfolio of 7,167 small businesses that account for 38,726 jobs across the country. 82% of these jobs are provided by businesses outside of Dublin, which again reflects this Government’s ambitions for balanced regional development

Further to this, the National Enterprise Hub, which launched on 10th July last, brings together information and resources on over 230 government supports from 23 different Departments and state agencies which can be accessed through the new online hub or by speaking directly to an advisor by phone, email or via live chat.