Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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157. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the total operational budget committed by the Government to grow remote social enterprise in 2021 and to date in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57968/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that social enterprises are businesses whose core objective is to achieve a social, societal, or environmental impact.

Grow Remote CLG is a national initiative which aims to support communities to live, work and participate locally.

Under the third call of my Department’s Regional Enterprise Development Fund, Grow Remote secured funding of €449,442 in 2020 to build out educational resources that enable local leaders to create and foster communities of remote workers locally - supporting hubs, creating and attracting high value, salaried jobs to all parts of Ireland.

The first National Social Enterprise Policy was published by the Department of Rural and Community Development in 2019. This policy is built on three pillars: ‘Building Awareness of Social Enterprise’, ‘Growing and Strengthening Social Enterprise’, and ‘Achieving Better policy Alignment’.

The development of a successor Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland is now underway, this is due to be launched in 2023.