Balanced regional development is a Government priority, and a central component of the White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030 is to support balanced regional enterprise development. It is also acknowledged that the availability of appropriate and accessible infrastructure and related services is critical to support our enterprise development and competitiveness.
One element of my Department’s work towards balanced regional development has been the identification of the extent of infrastructural shortfall that may constrain enterprise development in a given region. As your question presupposes, issues with infrastructure are not uniform, and vary from one region to the next. The impact of otherwise similar infrastructural shortcomings can also vary across different regions of Ireland as a consequence of specific regional topography, demography or key enterprise sectors active in a region.
Given their activities across the country, my Department’s enterprise development agencies are well positioned to inform the Department of infrastructure issues they encounter affecting enterprise development at a regional level. Similarly, the network of Local Enterprise Offices have a presence in every county and can highlight or elaborate on specific issues encountered in a given region.
As you may be aware, my Department is also funding a programme manager working to develop a roadmap for the delivery of the Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) at the Ireland West Airport (Knock). This work has included the identification of specific infrastructure issues that may affect the proposed development of the site in line with the Planning Scheme set out, and explorations of how best to address these issues.
More broadly, the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation is leading cross Government work to accelerate infrastructure delivery. As part of that work, it has recently published its Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan, which identifies key barriers to infrastructure delivery and proposes actions to resolve them. Specific questions relating to this work may be more appropriate to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.
