Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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78. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide targeted supports for workers impacted by job cuts at a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21689/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Established in 1968, Intel is one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and employing over 110,000 people worldwide, the company is one of the leading microelectronic companies in the world. The company designs, manufactures, and sells microprocessors for computers, smartphones, and tablets, as well as embedded semiconductors for the industrial, medical, and automotive markets.

Intel is a significant employer in Ireland, with Ireland being Intel’s centre of manufacturing excellence in Europe. The company has invested over €30 billion in Ireland since it first established here. The company’s presence in Ireland since 1989 has helped to transform Ireland’s value proposition into a leading global location for major multinational capital investments at scale.

On Thursday 24th April, Intel announced its first quarter financial results for 2025. Revenue for the first quarter ($12.7 billion) was flat versus the same quarter last year. The company’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, described the results as “a step in the right direction” as the company seeks to regain market share and return to growth, but stated that there are “no quick fixes”. The CEO also said that he will be “taking swift actions to drive better execution and operational efficiency while empowering our engineers to create great products”.

As part of the drive to deliver greater efficiency, the CEO said that Intel would take actions to streamline the organisation, eliminate management layers and enable faster decision-making. The CEO also stated that they will continue to focus investment on the company’s core business, the manufacturing of semiconductor products. This is the primary activity in Ireland.

Intel provided no further details on what its immediate plans are in terms of the company’s global headcount reductions. It is likely to be several weeks before detail is available on how the company’s Irish operations may be affected.

My foremost concern is for the potentially impacted employees and their families during this uncertain time. Should redundancies be announced by the company, our enterprise agencies will assist where possible in helping those impacted to find alternative employment. Other State supports will be made available to those who may need them, including advice on entitlements and protections, as well as on re-training and education options.

My Department, through IDA Ireland, will continue to work with the company as it works through its plans over the coming weeks and months and I am meeting the company myself today as part of Government's ongoing engagement with Intel.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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80. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his response to the closure of the co-operative creamery in Monaghan town; his proposals to support job creation in the town; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21422/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My Department, through its Agencies, is committed to supporting employment in Monaghan town following recent job losses at Lakeland’s Dairy Creamery.

Enterprise Ireland is focused on creating new jobs by supporting entrepreneurs in manufacturing and internationally traded services, as well as companies setting up High Potential Start-Up Companies. Additionally, Enterprise Ireland aims to retain and create new jobs in existing companies and enhance Ireland's innovation capability at both national and regional levels through research support in companies and third-level institutions.

To foster new start-ups, Enterprise Ireland provides incubation spaces on college campuses and Community Enterprise Centres. They offer a range of supports for SMEs, including financial assistance, business and marketing advice, mentoring, product development, and management training. One key initiative is the Dynamic Leadership – Roadmap to Growth programme, delivered in partnership with Dublin City University, which equips senior leadership teams of Irish SMEs with the tools and strategies needed for sustainable growth and international expansion.

Collaboration with Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) is crucial in delivering support to businesses, growing the number of Irish exporters, and backing job creation nationwide. Enterprise Ireland also works with regional partners to strengthen the enterprise ecosystem and infrastructure, supporting increased enterprise collaboration through cluster and network development.

Through various funding streams, including the Regional Enterprise Development Fund and the Border Enterprise Development Fund, Enterprise Ireland continues to support projects in the North East region, driving job creation, scale, and export potential. In Monaghan, several projects have been funded to foster industry collaboration, build digital capability, support biotechnology research, and provide start-up co-working spaces and remote working supports.

Last year Enterprise Ireland supported 7,644 jobs across 127 client companies, creating 270 new jobs.

My Department oversees the implementation of nine Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs) including for the North-East Region which covers counties Cavan, Louth and Monaghan. The REPs are driven by regional stakeholders and focus on undertaking collaborative projects that help strengthen the regional enterprise ecosystem. The current plans were extended last year to run until the end of 2025. The North-East REP includes five strategic objectives and ten actions. A Mid-Term Progress Report was published in 2024 on the department’s website which provides updates on implementation across each strategic objective.

Since 2017 the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has approved regional enterprise development funding of over €150 million through a variety of schemes and funds administered by Enterprise Ireland. The North-East counties of Cavan, Monaghan and Louth secured over €11.6 million approved funding for innovative enterprise projects under the Regional Enterprise Development Fund and €8.7 million for projects under the Border Enterprise Development Fund. These projects are across the Engineering, Financial Services, Sustainability and GreenTech, and Life Sciences sectors, including €6.2 million for the BioConnect Innovation Centre, and €3.8 million for a Digital Innovation Hub at DKIT.

The Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme (SREIS), co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), was launched in October 2023. The overall objective of this scheme is to drive job creation and enterprise development in each region and to support projects aligned to the nine Regional Enterprise Plans. The scheme includes four streams supporting local enterprise infrastructure, innovation clusters, innovation services to SMEs and early-stage feasibility and priming research. The Scheme remains open for applications on the EI website and EI is available to support all potential applicants.

Last year, LEO Monaghan supported 1,006 jobs across 170 client companies, creating 163 new jobs through direct grant assistance. The LEO Annual Employment Survey only accounts for LEO clients that have received direct financial grant assistance from their LEO and does not include the number of small businesses and associated jobs that have received training, mentoring or other supports such as the Grow Digital Voucher, Green for Business, Lean for Business, Digital for Business and Energy Efficiency Grants (EEG).

While the IDA has 7 client companies in Monaghan employing 258 staff.

The new IDA Strategy, "Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for Sustainable Growth and Innovation", which was launched in February, is targeting 550 from a total of 1,000 investments over the lifetime of the strategy to regional locations. This ambitious target will require continued investment in IDA’s Regional Property Programme which ensures the continued supply of land, buildings and infrastructure in regional locations to meet the needs of current and prospective IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Local Enterprise Office clients.