Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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71. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps he is taking to support job creation in regional towns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51519/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Delivering balanced regional enterprise growth and supporting sustainable local job creation is a core objective of this Government and is a key component of the White Paper on Enterprise.

My Department contributes to this objective through direct assistance to businesses as well as promotion and enhancement of the regional enterprise ecosystem to encourage businesses to invest and create jobs.

As the Deputy will be aware, a core objective for Enterprise Ireland is to grow enterprise across the country and to support sustainable job creation. Enterprise Ireland’s strategy has set targets of creating 45,000 new jobs by 2024 with over two-thirds of new jobs to be created outside Dublin.

IDA Ireland is also committed to more balanced regional development and has a target of half of all investments from 2021-2024 to regional locations.

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) promote entrepreneurship within their locality and help in the creation of new sustainable jobs in innovative businesses that contribute to economic development in their regions.

Complementing the work of the enterprise agencies and LEOs are nine Regional Enterprise Plans. These plans are driven by regional enterprise stakeholders and focus on undertaking collaborative projects that help strengthen the regional enterprise ecosystem.

I recently announced that my Department has secured €145 million in funding for the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme, which is co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund. The overall objective of this scheme is to drive job creation and enterprise development in each region as well as supporting projects aligned to the Regional Enterprise Plans. The first call of €35 million is now open and there will be further calls in the coming years. Full information is available on Enterprise Ireland’s website.

The Deputy will also be familiar with the Urban Regeneration Development Fund (URDF) from the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage and the Rural Regeneration Development Fund (RRDF) from the Department of Rural and Community Development, which complement the work of my Department in terms of wider regional development in towns and more rural locations.

My Department has been holding nine ‘Building Better Business’ conferences around the country throughout 2023. These are free events for business which primarily focus on themes of digitalisation and decarbonisation and how companies around the country can scale and internationalise. In addition, experts from government agencies and offices are on hand to showcase the many supports available to small and medium enterprises.

The final event is being held in Dublin on Thursday 7 December in the Convention Centre.