Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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25. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the additional funding provided to his Department under the recent National Development Plan review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50464/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The review of the National Development Plan allocates a total of €3.68 billion in funding to support the capital programmes of my Department over the period of the NDP from 2026 out to 2030. The Plan provides for incremental increases in our annual core capital allocation from €680 million in 2026 to €790 million in 2030. Overall, exchequer funding for DETE’s capital programmes will increase by €400 million over the lifetime of the Plan.

This increase in the Department’s exchequer capital funding together with additional non-exchequer income generated by our Enterprise Agencies from equity and property related investments will be targeted at supporting Irish enterprises to start up, grow and scale internationally, to drive the competitiveness and productivity of businesses across every region of the country, to provide supports to attract inward investment, to support access to finance and to position Ireland as a destination of choice for tourism through product development and overseas marketing.

The funding will enable the Department and its Agencies to invest directly in Irish companies and to strengthen our indigenous base, in the face of potential geopolitical shocks. This will include new investment funds to support Irish companies where there is currently a funding gap and where business financing can be challenged.

Funding will also enable the development of a national start-up accelerator programme, development of regional incubators and enterprise centres and the positioning of Ireland internationally as a hub for entrepreneurs and start-ups.

The new Government Action Plan on Market Diversification will continue to support small, medium and large enterprise so they may grow, scale and compete internationally. The Plan on Market Diversification and the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, in responding to geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruption etc. will promote Ireland’s economic resilience, foster competitiveness and productivity and support trade and investment to ensure sustainable growth.

Foreign direct investment is also a priority for my Department and the funding secured under the NDP will support the purchase of FDI focused property acquisitions through the development of Next Generation Sites to attract companies seeking sites of significant scale, thus positioning Ireland to compete for investment and strengthening competitive advantage globally.

The additional capital funding will also support the implementation of the ‘National Semiconductor Strategy’, ‘Silicon Island’, which is key to establishing Ireland as a global research and innovation leader across the semiconductor value chain and in the application of semiconductors in the green and digital transitions.