Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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523. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will commit to a coordinated regional enterprise strategy for the south east that includes dedicated investment in town centre renewal, public procurement access for local SMEs, and succession planning for indigenous businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23402/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Balanced regional development is a Government priority; a central component of the White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030 is to support balanced regional enterprise development. My Department and its agencies contribute to this agenda in several ways, including through the nine Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs). These are bottom-up plans developed and led by regional stakeholders, which focus on collaborative initiatives to strengthen the enterprise ecosystem in each region.

The Regional Enterprise Plan for the South-East covers the counties of Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford and brings together stakeholders including the Enterprise Agencies, Local Enterprise Offices, Local Authorities, Regional Skills Forum, Higher and Further Education Institutions, Fáilte Ireland and private industry. The current REPs were extended to the end of 2025 and there is a clear commitment in the new Programme for Government to publish and resource new Regional Enterprise Plans; work to develop these plans will commence later this year and should be completed in early 2026.

Since 2017, my Department has approved over €150 million in regional enterprise development funding through Enterprise Ireland schemes such as the Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF), Border Enterprise Development Fund and Regional Enterprise Transition Scheme to support enterprise development and regional jobs growth across all regions. The vast majority of funding has been approved for projects outside the Dublin region.

Counties in the South-East have been awarded over €8 million in approved funding for eight innovative enterprise projects under the REDF. These projects are across the life sciences and IT sectors.

Enterprise Ireland continues to play a significant role in the South-East region of Ireland, driving economic growth, and supporting local businesses with over 23,000 people employed by Enterprise Ireland supported companies in the region – up from approximately 19,000 five years ago.

Notable EI investments in the region include funding to SEAM Research Centre and Walton Institute at SETU, both of which are advancing cutting-edge technologies in manufacturing and digital innovation.

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), located within the 31 Local Authorities, have a key role to play in supporting local SMEs as the first stop shop for small businesses in Ireland. The LEOs promote entrepreneurship, foster business start-ups, develop small businesses, drive job creation and provide accessible high-quality supports for small businesses within their Local Authority areas.

In 2024 the LEOs in the South-East assisted 893 small businesses to support 5,401 jobs and approved €2.8 million in direct grant assistance to small businesses in towns and villages based in the South-East.

These figures do not take account of 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. I would recommend that any small business owner contact their Local Enterprise Office and ask to speak to a Business Advisor about the supports available to them.

I also encourage any business owners looking to avail of government support to consult the National Enterprise Hub (NEH). The NEH is an all-of-government free service, staffed by expertly trained advisors and is focused on helping business owners access a range of government supports.

Public procurement in Ireland is governed by EU rules and national regulations. These provide for an open, transparent, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement environment. The Office of Government Procurement (OGP), which comes under the remit of the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, is responsible for developing the overarching policy framework in which public procurement is conducted. The OGP works with industry to promote the engagement of SMEs in public procurement and to ensure that winning government business is done in a fair, transparent and accessible way and to ensure that government procurement policies are business-friendly. The OGP has been organising quarterly meetings of an SME Advisory Group to support this engagement, allowing SME representative bodies to voice concerns on issues affecting SME participation in public procurement and to be heard by Government.

The Town Centre First (TCF) Policy is a joint policy initiative of the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. TCF is underpinned by a range of capital funding streams across Government which have been aligned with the policy aims of TCF. These include the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, the Town and Village Renewal Scheme, the THRIVE scheme to revitalise our heritage buildings and the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund. All of which align with our broader vision for sustainable rural development under Our Rural Future.