152. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the 2017, 2018 and 2019 budget allocations to the regional enterprise development fund; the amount of the 2017 and 2018 budget allocations, respectively, expended in each such year; the number of applications for the fund by each stream in each year to date; the number of successful and unsuccessful applications, respectively, in each such year; the amount of approved funding to successful applications in each year; and the number of payments that have issued to date by county. [18299/19]

The Government’s €60 million Regional Enterprise Development Fund, administered by Enterprise Ireland, has the objective of supporting every region to build on its unique strengths and ultimately create sustainable jobs.  Administered via two competitive calls, 42 projects were approved funding totalling €59.5 million.  The budget for this fund is part of Enterprise Ireland’s budget to support enterprise development.

Successful projects under Call 1 and Call 2 of the fund were announced on the 11th of December 2017 and the 3rd of December 2018 respectively. 21 projects were successful under each initiative. €31.5 million was approved under Call 1 and €29 million under Call 2.

The number of applications, successful and unsuccessful, received under each of the four funding streams, by region, is presented in the table following. Due to the collaborative nature of projects, the regional breakdown of projects presents the best overview of applications, successful and unsuccessful.

Applications under Regional Enterprise Development Fund

Approvals under Regional Enterprise Development Fund

Unsuccessful projects under Regional Enterprise Development Fund

The successful applicants from Call 1 and Call 2 are detailed in the tables following. The approved funding figures are not available for Call 1 for reasons of commercial sensitivity.  A change to the scheme document for Call 2, stated that the approved funding figures would be published as part of the fund’s requirement.

Projects approved under Call 1 of the Regional Enterprise Development Fund

Projects approved under Call 2 of the Regional Enterprise Development Fund

Due to the collaborative nature of each project, the regional breakdown below presents the best overview of the number of payments issued to successful applicants to date:

Number of payments to successful projects under the Regional Enterprise Development Fund to date:

Funding approved to successful projects was in the form of grants. Grant expenditure must be incurred and then inspected by Enterprise Ireland prior to payment. The payments refer to payments for approved REDF projects and does not include payments for feasibility studies.  Funding for feasibility studies under the REDF is provided to enable promoters to investigate the viability of the project and prepare final submissions for consideration. In some instances, more than one payment has been issued to successful projects under the REDF to date.