Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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265. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the specific productivity indicators his Department uses to evaluate the impact of State-funded innovation schemes in the residential construction sector, including Built to Innovate and Construct Innovate, and to confirm whether metrics such as output per labour hour, output per euro of State support, and time-to-completion benchmarks are currently in use; and if not, when such indicators will be established. [68900/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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My Department through Enterprise Ireland has supported the establishment of Ireland's first national Technology Centre for the construction sector "Construct Innovate", with a specific mandate to address housing related challenges and opportunities. My Department also enables the roll out of Enterprise Ireland's Built to Innovate package of productivity and innovation supports to the domestic residential construction sector, which has approved €6.8 million to date in grants to the sector.

The productivity indicators used to evaluate the impact of Built to Innovate suite of grant supports and the Construct Innovate Technology Centre, are summarised below:

Built to Innovate

Enterprise Ireland considers the following productivity metrics when evaluating significant Built to Innovate productivity funding applications:

1. reduced construction time and improved quality, including the reduction of snag lists,
2. projected growth in residential unit output from a base year (usually the last full financial year) to 3 years full financial years from that base year,
3. revenue growth per FTE employee on a similar timeline,
4. specific projected productivity improvements and additional cost savings through waste reduction (addressing the 8 wastes addressed in Lean projects).

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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266. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the methodology used by his Department to assess value-for-money in the allocation of more than €6.5 million under the Built to Innovate programme for residential construction productivity, including the performance criteria applied to participating firms and the evidence of productivity gains recorded to date. [68901/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Enterprise Ireland's Built to Innovate programme of supports to the domestic residential construction sector offers different grant aid packages, subject to eligibility, across four areas:

• The Digital package supports the implementation of Industry 4.0, digitally enabled Lean systems to develop offsite manufacturing capability to increase output and produce more complex, higher value products.
• The Lean construction grant package is designed to deliver higher levels of on time and on budget project delivery, through implementing Lean methodologies onsite and the increased use of offsite and near site production.
• The Research & Innovation grant package is designed to support the development of products that will increase Pre-Manufactured Value (PMV), and reduce the embodied carbon, in residential construction.
• Finally, through the Sustainability package, Enterprise Ireland can support clients on their journey to sustainability through targeted grants that enable them to develop high impact carbon reduction plans.

1. reduced construction time and improved quality, including the reduction of snag lists,
2. projected growth in residential unit output from a base year (usually the last full financial year) to 3 years full financial years from that base year,
3. revenue growth per FTE employee on a similar timeline,
4. specific projected productivity improvements and additional cost savings through waste reduction (addressing the 8 wastes addressed in Lean projects).

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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267. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the findings of the recent mid-cycle international evaluation of Construct Innovate carried out in November 2025, including the assessment of its productivity-related KPIs, its impact on residential construction delivery, and any recommendations for corrective actions. [68902/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Construct Innovate Technology Centre is currently operating under a five-year contractual framework with Enterprise Ireland, and is currently in year three. In line with the Centre's governance and funding structure, Enteprise Ireland commenced an independent international evaluation to assess that the Centre is working to its stated programme objectives and delivering to its industry mandate and KPIs.

Enterprise Ireland has received a draft report from the international expert panel on the mid-cycle international evaluation of Construct Innovate, conducted during November 2025, which is currently under internal review.

As part of the evaluation, the Centre presented an overview of its work programme and results to date to the expert international panel. The panel also met with key Government Departments, including my Department, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; and the Centre Steering Commitee that comprises industry representatives; and also the industry Chair of the Centre Steering Committee. The expert panel also spoke with companies who had engaged with the Centre to garner feedback on what has worked well, and any suggestions for improvement.

Recommendations to Enterprise Ireland arising from the evaluation may be implemented over the remainder of the Centre's current five-year Phase, and are also taken into account by Enterprise Ireland in decision-making regarding the future operation and direction of the Centre at the conclusion of its first five years of operation.