Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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100. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of new jobs created in towns in Kildare (details supplied) in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60353/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to the creation of new sustainable employment and supporting businesses across the country. The offices and agencies under the remit of my Department have work diligently to encourage the creation of sustainable employment in businesses of all sizes, across all sectors of the economy.

Balanced regional development is a Government priority that my Department and its agencies contribute to in several ways, including through the nine Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs). The REPs aim is to bring added value and increased impact through regional actors working collaboratively to address challenges and foster new enterprise development opportunities. County Kildare is covered by the Mid-East REP, which works to leverage the established strengths of the region in relation to screen content creation, agrifood and the equine sector.

The Local Enterprise Office Kildare plays an extremely 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 County Kildare.

As of 2024 there were 9,260 employed in EI client companies based in Kildare, a 2.3% increase on 2023. Enterprise Ireland have invested in several job creation projects during this time, most notably this year, Kerry Group announced a new Digital Centre of Excellence, designed to increase operational efficiencies and enhance customer connectivity. This project is being supported by a €7.5m grant from Enterprise Ireland and will be located at Kerry’s Global Innovation Centre in Naas, Co Kildare.

Other notable EI projects over the past few years include:

• the 2025 New Frontiers programme for the Midlands & Mid-East Region.
• The opening of the Mid-East Regional Innovation Thinkspace (MERITS) in Kildare in 2023,
• NovaUCD received support under the Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REFD) to help turn UCD Lyons Farm into the central hub for ag-tech research in Ireland and to develop a AgTech Connector Innovation Hub at the County Kildare farm.