€28m Economic Stimulus Package for the Border Region

 

 

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, has today announced details of a special €28 million economic stimulus package for the Border region.

 

The package, which applies to counties Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, and Louth, is designed to drive economic activity in the region and ensure that businesses have additional support in mitigating the impact of Brexit.

 

Announcing details of the stimulus package, Minister Humphreys said: “All of the research shows that the Border region is most exposed to the impact of Brexit. I want to ensure that businesses in the region are supported by Government in responding to the challenges and uncertainties which lie ahead.”

 

This package is the first time Minister Humphreys has provided “targeted, ringfenced funding” to a specific region. She says the allocation represents a “strong statement” of the Government's commitment to the Border area. “Through this package of measures, I want to make businesses in the border region more resilient, more innovative and more competitive so that we can stimulate enhanced economic activity in the region.”

 

The Border Economic Stimulus Package includes:

 

· €3 million for the six Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) in the border counties to pilot a series of bespoke programmes focused on boosting exports, improving innovation and enhanced online marketing and digitisation supports for businesses.

 

· An €8.5 million Brexit Transformation Fund to enable Enterprise Ireland to support firms impacted by Brexit with capital investments, purchase of equipment etc. to enable transformation and diversification of product and markets;

 

· €1.5 million for Industry Fellowships targeted at businesses located in Border counties, administered by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and targetted at bringing new energy and specialist expertise to businesses in the Border region;

 

· A €15 million competitive Border Enterprise Development Fund, administered by Enterprise Ireland (EI). This fund will focus on bottom-up proposals. Projects might include: enterprise hubs, spokes and pre-accelerators, accelerators – capacity building for entrepreneurship programmes, ready for export etc.  This fund will be administered by Enterprise Ireland. A Call for feasibility funding to assist project promoters in the development of their proposals opened today, with the application form available on the EI website.

To help stakeholders investigate the viability of potential projects and prepare final submissions for consideration for the €15m Border Enterprise Development Fund, Competitive Feasibility Funding is also available. This will be a grant of €15,000 or 50% of eligible costs, whichever is lesser, available to eligible applicants.

 

A series of workshops with representatives from the Department’s enterprise agencies (Enterprise Ireland, the LEOs, SFI and IDA Ireland) will take place in each of the six border counties in the coming weeks to raise awareness of the various strands of the funding package.

 

Minister Humphreys added: “This is a golden opportunity for businesses in the border region and I want to ensure that they get the maximum benefit out of this funding. I would therefore encourage companies to attend these workshops, details of which will be announced shortly, so that they can hear directly from our enterprise agencies about what’s involved. I want to see strong, innovative, industry-led proposals coming forward which will make a real and lasting difference to the region.”

 

As part of its Regional Property Programme, the IDA are directly investing in a building programme to help ensure property solutions are in place for overseas companies considering investing or expanding in Ireland, thereby encouraging more foreign direct investment (FDI) in the regions.  As part of the next phase of the IDA's Regional Property Programme (RPP), three Advanced Technology Buildings will be constructed in Dundalk, Monaghan and Sligo in 2020.