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EU structural fund investments worth €820.2 million for Irish regions with special boost for small businesses

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Belfast2The European Commission has today (18 December) adopted the 2014‑2020 'Operational Programmes' for the southern and eastern regions, worth €498.2 million - with €249.1m coming from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and for the border, Midlands and West worth €320.2m - with €160.1m coming from the ERDF.

The investments will benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular, spearheading entrepreneurship initiatives to boost the growth potential and competitiveness of Ireland's small business.  The programmes aim to complement wider investment programmes in targeted high growth and innovative sectors to support the creation of new quality jobs and boost innovation as well as helping to grow the local economies in these Irish regions. The programmes focus on specific growth opportunities and targeted growth in innovative sectors identified in Ireland's smart specialisation strategy, building on the regions' strengths.  Welcoming the adoption, Regional Policy Commissioner Corina Crețu said: "SMEs are vital to the European economy and this trend is reflected in the regions of Ireland. We need to empower citizens with the skills and knowledge they need to set up small companies; we need to facilitate the access of these businesses to financial support, and most importantly, we need to enable them to create jobs. Today's investment programmes set all Irish regions on this path."

Funding priorities 

The programmes will focus on five main priorities:

Develop and exploit commercial research excellence and innovation capacity in the S&E and the BMW regions with active company engagement financially and intellectually in such research.

Access to, use and quality of high-speed internet in both regions, including SMEs.

SME competitiveness, especially micro-enterprises in high growth and innovative sectors.

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Shift towards a low-carbon economy, especially energy efficiency in housing, and promoting low-carbon strategies for urban areas.

Integrated urban development to revitalize urban areas.

Expected impacts   

More company engagement in research in both regions.

An increase in the licences issued as a result of research in the S&E region.

An increase in the number of SME clients of Enterprise Ireland spending over €100,000 per annum on research and development in the BMW region.

Extension of high speed next generation broadband to unserved areas in both regions.

More jobs in the micro-enterprise sector in both region.

Better thermal performance of housing in both regions.

More non-private car commuting levels in designated urban centres in the S&E region.

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Cohesion policy in Ireland
@CorinaCretuEU @EU_Regional #ESIF #CohesionPolicy

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