Minister Howlin, Ms Crtu and Cllr Ó Dohmnaill.
A DONEGAL County Councillor has welcomed a new multi million EU funding programme’s plans to improve broadband in the county.
Donegal County Councillor Seamus Ó Domhnaill attended the signing of the €320.2m funding agreement for Border Midlands and Western Ireland’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for 2014-2020 on Tuesday.
A member of the Border Midlands and Western Regional Assembly (BMW), Cllr Ó Domhnaill met European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu in Brussels where they were joined by Minister Brendan Howlin TD at a ceremony to mark the adoption.
Commissioner Cretu said: “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.”
Echoing this sentiment, Councillor Ó Domhnaill added: “The new programme will deliver universal high speed broadband to every town and village, benefiting 145,000 households, continued support for up to 15,000 enterprises through Local Enterprise Offices and Enterprise Ireland, energy efficiency in more than 10,000 social housing and low income households.”
It is expected to create 583 new jobs in the micro-enterprise sector in the BMW region; Create 4,500 jobs among SME clients of Enterprise Ireland; Increase broadband links to all unserved towns and villages; Increase energy efficiency in housing; Rejuvenate certain urban spaces and increase use of public transport for urban journeys and increase Research and Development in companies through links between SMEs and research centres.
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