€25m competitive fund will benefit Midlands as part of Govt’s Regional Enterprise Strategy – McFadden

Fine Gael TD for Longford/Westmeath, Gabrielle McFadden, has said that a new €25 million competitive fund will benefit the Midlands as part of the Government’s Regional Enterprise Strategy.

“The Regional Enterprise Strategy will be rolled out shortly across the country, starting with the Midlands in early February. This national strategy will include competitive funding initiatives of up to €25 million which will undoubtedly help boost business in the regions, not least in the Midlands. I understand that details of these competitive funding initiatives will be announced shortly.

“With the creation of more than 80,000 jobs since it was first launched in 2012, the Action Plan for Jobs has been a great success. However, this year the plan is focused on spreading the recovery to all regions of the country

“Specific reforms to be launched this year that will impact on a range of sectors across the country include:

• A national talent drive to increase by 60% the number of ICT graduates by 2018.
• New measures to support start-ups including a new Start-up Refunds for Entrepreneurs Scheme (SURE) tax incentive and a Start-up Gathering to be held in 2015.
• A €39 million fund for businesses to make savings in energy.

“When the Action Plan for Jobs was first launched it was against a backdrop of emigration, job losses and a lack of credit for SMEs. Thankfully the economic landscape has changed but this growth has not been evenly spread and many areas have yet to benefit.

“We need to see growth and improvement in all areas of the country. We need to support business, existing and new, in places like Longford and Westmeath in order to provide opportunities for our young people.The Action Plan for Jobs 2015, launched today by Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, seeks to do just that.”