Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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71. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if, in view of the importance of developing enterprise centres and workspaces, a new scheme of grant aid will be introduced to assist local authorities and community groups with such developments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43430/24]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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76. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if additional financial support will be made available to local authorities and community groups to develop enterprise centres or workspaces, taking into account the importance of such facilities in assisting job creation, especially in smaller towns and villages; if he is aware of the substantial costs on local authorities and community groups in developing such centres at present, which impacts severely on councils with a low rates base; if his Department and the statutory agencies under the remit of his Department will give this request further urgent consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43429/24]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State will have heard me speak previously about the value of enterprise centres and the development of workspaces. Grant schemes are available to help develop such centres but they are not adequate, particularly for local authorities that have a low rates base. I appeal to the Minister of State to ensure there is an additional scheme of assistance to help those local authorities and community groups in areas such as Cavan and Monaghan and elsewhere, where historically there has been less economic development and where we have the potential to develop new businesses and grow employment.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 71 and 76 together.

Balanced regional enterprise development remains a key focus for me and for the Government, as affirmed in the White Paper on enterprise. I very much appreciate the contribution made by enterprise and remote working hubs throughout the country. These facilities allow people to live and work in their local communities and provide vital services to support entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs. We have invested significantly in the development of these facilities. We are committed to further support for the sector. The Department of Rural and Community Development has invested more than €150 million in the development of remote working facilities through programmes such as connected hubs, the town and village renewal scheme and the rural regeneration and development fund. Successful projects are developed in collaboration with local authorities and communities, with many vacant and derelict buildings being converted into remote working hubs.

My Department and the Department of Rural and Community Development are working together to develop the first strategy for a national hub network, following consultation with key stakeholders. I expect the draft strategy to be brought to Government in the coming months. Since 2017, my Department has allocated more than €150 million to support enterprise centres and hubs across the country through Enterprise Ireland’s schemes, such as the regional enterprise development fund and the Border enterprise development fund, which I am sure is of use to the Deputy and his communities.

Enterprise hubs are essential infrastructure for entrepreneurs and SMEs and they are an integral part of the enterprise ecosystem in the country. That is why my Department has secured up to €145 million for the smart regions enterprise innovation scheme which is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund. That scheme includes four streams ranging from delivery of major local enterprise infrastructure such as building enterprise hubs to funding for services delivered to SMEs to drive innovation and enhance their competitiveness. The smart region scheme is open for business. Enterprise Ireland is ready to work with potential applicants. That is an important message to get across in Deputy Smith’s constituency. While they are independent, the Government will work collaboratively with the local authorities to deliver innovative projects. The local authorities have supported many of the enterprise hubs delivered to date, as project partners or through direct funding contributions.

Smart regions scheme projects are delivered on the triple helix partnership model. That means they are developed in collaboration with industry, academia and the public sector. Any co-financing rates are based on a multitude of factors, but primarily they are constrained by state aid restrictions and the partnership model required for the development of these projects nationally. I anticipate an announcement of initial projects funded under the smart regions scheme in the coming weeks. I hope there will be good news for many organisations throughout the country. There are no plans to introduce another regional enterprise development scheme while the smart regions scheme is in place. I expect, however, that funding of enterprise hubs will be kept under review as we consider future approaches to regional enterprise development.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for her reply. The point I have been trying to get across to successive Ministers in the Department is, in the case of Cavan and Monaghan where we have a great culture of developing enterprise centres, typically the local authority or community group buys the site and develops the services at major cost because of the drumlin topography and soil in the area. They can then get grant aid towards the provision of the actual workspace or enterprise centre. There is no national assistance available towards the cost of buying the site and providing services on the site. In local authorities such as in Cavan and Monaghan, where we have a low rates base, continued development of such centres is a huge demand on the local authorities. The Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, was with me when he met delegations from Cavan and Monaghan county councils and they outlined clearly the particular assistance they need to buy sites and provide services and then avail of the grant aid towards provision of the actual workspace. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could give that further consideration.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Absolutely we will. I appreciate what he is saying, that up until now it has been the Cavan or Monaghan local authority that has been buying sites and developing those services. To reiterate, now that we have the smart regions scheme, it is there to support that dynamic of industry, academia and enterprise. Stream 1 of that is designed to support the major local investment and capital investment projects. It is something worth looking at, especially if there may be IDA land in the area where a partnership could potentially be done through Enterprise Ireland. The enterprise hubs are very much an Enterprise Ireland initiative whereas the workspaces - I know there have been many remote working hubs set up in the Deputy’s constituency - are something for which my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has provided funding from the perspective of the Department of Rural and Community Development.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the development of hubs, but I am specifically talking in this case about centres and workspace for manufacturing and processing. We have a great tradition of engineering in Cavan and Monaghan. I have worked along with companies that started with two or three employees in an enterprise space and now are huge employers, having developed their own space. We need the space to enable processors and manufacturers to start their businesses. Those opportunities are there to create jobs in our towns and villages. At the same time there are people who developed a business, literally in their back garden or garage, who want to go to a proper workspace. There is a lacuna in regard to the type of development I would like to see advanced.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I hear what the Deputy is saying, and absolutely we need to do more in this area. Part of the smart regions enterprise innovation scheme also looks at clustering. Perhaps that is something that might be relevant to the Deputy's constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, if, for example, there are manufacturing companies he feels could benefit from that. I hear what he is saying, that we need availability of land, grants and financial supports for local authorities or whoever else to develop them and turn them into active spaces for growing enterprises. I thank the Deputy for that feedback. We will look at it.