Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 June 2025
19. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment in view of the importance of enterprise centres in assisting the creation and retention of employment, particularly in rural areas, if additional supports will be provided to local authorities to develop such workspaces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33167/25]
View answer24. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment when additional supports will be provided to assist in the development of enterprise centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33166/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 24 together.
Balanced regional enterprise development is a key focus for my Department and for the Government. I appreciate the important role of enterprise centres and remote working hubs throughout the country. They enable people to live and work in their local communities and provide a range of services to support companies and entrepreneurs to establish and grow their businesses. The Government has invested significantly in the development of these facilities, and we remain committed to further support for the sector.
Through programmes such as Connected Hubs and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, and working in partnership with local authorities and communities, substantial funding has been provided through the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to support remote working hubs. A significant number of the funded projects are making use of buildings that had previously been vacant or derelict.
Our Rural Future committed to the establishment of a network of 400 remote working hubs across the country over the lifetime of the policy. Connectedhubs.ie, the online booking and payments platform for remote working spaces, was launched in mid-2021, and there are now 383 hubs live on the network.
In close cooperation with my Department, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht is leading on development of the first Strategy for the National Hub Network. The Strategy, to be published this year, will present a coherent and whole-of-government approach to the future development of remote working and enterprise hubs through the National Hub Network.
As the Deputy will be aware, my Department has focused on supporting enterprise hubs and centres, which provide enterprise development activities rather than a remote working focus. Since 2017, my Department has allocated more than €150 million to support regional enterprise development initiatives, including many enterprise centres and hubs, across the country through Enterprise Ireland schemes, such as the Regional and the Border Enterprise Development Funds.
The Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme, co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund and administered by Enterprise Ireland, is open for applications. The scheme supports local enterprise infrastructure projects, innovative clusters, programmatic supports to business and feasibility and priming funding for early-stage project development. The overall aim of the scheme is to drive job creation and enterprise development across the regions.
While they are independent, the Government will continue to work with the local authorities to deliver projects that support regional development. The local authorities have supported many of the enterprise hubs delivered to date, as project partners or through direct funding contributions.
My Department does not have plans to introduce another regional enterprise development scheme at this time. However, funding of enterprise hubs will be kept under review as we consider future approaches to regional enterprise development. An independent review of the Regional Enterprise Plan initiative is under way and I know the local authorities have provided feedback on key issues as part of this process, including the availability of funding. The report on the findings of this independent review is due at the end of this quarter.
