Extra €30m fund to boost job projects

Business Minister Heather Humphreys

Cormac McQuinn

Business Minister Heather Humphreys will today announce €30m in funding for projects that help boost employment in the regions.

The grants, under the Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF), are aimed at projects where the private and public sector work together to drive job creation.

A previous round of funding under the scheme, which is administered by Enterprise Ireland, saw 21 collaborative projects awarded a total of €30.5m.

Ms Humphreys will make a second call for proposals today when she meets representatives of the Regional Action Plan for Jobs implementation committees. She said she looks forward to seeing "many more exciting, innovative initiatives to drive employment creation in our regions".

Each region will secure a minimum of €2m once projects meet the required standard.

A maximum of 80pc of funding is available for the projects and the closing date for applications is June 27.

Applicants must be not-for-profit entities or intend to set up a distinct entity comprising of regional, county and local stakeholders for the purposes of benefiting the community.

There are four funding streams available including for major regional change projects and industry clusters.