merrion street

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton today published the new Regional Aid Map providing details of areas of the country in which the State can provide investment aid to businesses in order to support new investment and employment under EU rules.

The new Map is expected to take effect from 1st July 2014 and will provide for the following:

• areas accounting for 51.28% of Ireland’s population will be eligible for State Aid. This represents a substantial increase from the 25% originally proposed by the Commission, and an increase from the 50% under the 2007-2013 Map. This means that Kerry, Kells, Athy, and Arklow can be added to the areas covered;
• aid to large enterprises is permitted for new economic activities, expansions which involve new products or services, and product innovation. Under the original proposals aid to large enterprises was to be banned entirely in Ireland;
• aid intensity rates (30% for small enterprises, 20% for medium sized enterprises and 10% for large enterprises) are maintained at current levels.

Minister Bruton said:

I am very happy to announce today that following hard negotiations with the EU Commission we are in a position to increase the proportion of the country that is eligible for the full range of Government investment aid to businesses.

Most importantly, today’s announcement will make it much easier to go into boardrooms of multinational and Irish exporting companies and convince them to create jobs in regional locations.