Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 May 2025
215. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will outline the grant aid available through his Department in Enterprise Ireland for the development of community enterprise centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22007/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraEnterprise Ireland, as an agency of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, has historically provided grant aid to support the development and sustainability of community enterprise centres across Ireland. These centres play a pivotal role in fostering entrepreneurship, offering workspace, mentoring and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses.
In 2020 a €12 million Enterprise Centres Fund was launched in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was followed by an additional €8.24 million in November 2020. This funding aimed to assist both not-for-profit and for-profit enterprise centres that experienced significant income reductions due to the pandemic. Grants ranging from €10,000 to €150,000 were provided to help centres implement recovery plans over a 6 to 12-month period.
The development and support of community enterprise centres has been significantly bolstered by the Regional Enterprise Development Fund and Border Enterprise Development Fund, administered by Enterprise Ireland. Since 2017, Enterprise Ireland has approved €126 million in funding for these schemes to support 79 innovative enterprise projects across the country. This funding aims to drive job creation and enterprise development in each region throughout Ireland.
The current funding initiative, the Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme, administered by Enterprise Ireland and co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund, 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. This scheme offers support from €50,000 towards feasibility costs, up to €10 million for local infrastructure towards enterprise support projects.
