Local and Regional Economic Strategies Support Scheme (LRESSS)
-
From: Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
- Published on: 26 February 2025
- Last updated on: 28 February 2025
The Local and Regional Economic Strategies Support Scheme (LRESSS), under the EU Just Transition Fund Programme 2021 - 2027, aims to provide targeted supports to projects that will boost communities and the economic fabric of the wider Midlands.
The aim of the Scheme is to help implement bottom-up local and regional economic strategies to promote the generation of employment in the EU Just Transition territory by investing in the modernisation and diversification of the local economy.
This LRESSS supports projects in the EU Just Transition Fund Territory, which includes Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath, Roscommon and the Municipal Districts of Ballinasloe (Co Galway), Athy, Clane-Maynooth, (Co Kildare) and Carrick-on-Suir and Thurles (Co Tipperary).
The LRESSS is administered by Pobal with the support of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly (EMRA).
Under the first funding call of the LRESSS, €20 million of grant funding has been awarded across 19 projects. This includes 17 project that align with Local Economic and Community Plans and 2 projects that align with Regional Enterprise Plans within the Just Transition Territory.
Under the second funding call of the LRESSS, the Community and Enterprise Grants Scheme, €3.8 million of grant funding has been awarded across 15 sustainability-focused projects. This Scheme supports local community organisations and small-to-medium sized enterprises, investing in ideas from the community that create employment and diversify the local economy of the Territory.
A third call for proposals to support projects implementing Local Economic and Community Plans has granted €5,819,759 of Community Support Funding to 10 community-led projects. The projects and actions supported are included in or closely aligned to the Local Economic and Community Plans (LECPs) from the eligible areas of EU JTF territory in counties Galway, Kildare, Laois, Longford and Offaly.
Details of all projects approved for funding under the LRESSS, to date, are as follows:
Call 1: Local and Regional Economic Strategies Support Scheme (LRESSS)
| Project Name | Lead organisation | County | Approved funding amount* |
| Athlone Smart Innovation and Co-working hub | Westmeath County Council, Technological University of the Shannon | Westmeath | €1,000,000 |
| Ballaghaderreen Training, Upskilling and Community Hub | Roscommon County Council | Roscommon | €1,000,000 |
| Biomethane Development Office | Tipperary County Council, Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) and the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation (IBF) | Tipperary | €993,011 |
| Carbon Emission Reduction Training | Roscommon County Council | Roscommon | €569,037 |
| Circular Economy Centre of Excellence | Longford County Council | Longford | €200,860 |
| Computer Science in Every Secondary School in Co. Longford | Longford County Council | Longford | €841,290 |
| Co-working Hub and Enterprise Centre | Westmeath County Council – Kinnegad | Westmeath | €1,000,000 |
| Film Offaly Project | Offaly County Council | Offaly | €252,985 |
| Junction 17 National Enterprise Park Development | Laois County Council | Laois | €1,000,000 |
| Kilcormac Renewable Energy Centre of Excellence | Kilcormac Development Association | Offaly | €294,056 |
| Manorhamilton Innovation and Development Community** | Future Cast | Roscommon | €793,970 |
| Pre-Apprenticeship programme | Tipperary Education and Training Board | Tipperary | €999,791 |
| Rathcrogan Farming/Cultural Heritage Scheme | Farming Rathcrogan Scheme Company | Roscommon | €886,634 |
| Midlands Regional Enterprise Plan Pathway for Just Transition | Laois County Council | Regional | €3,992,882 |
| ReSHAPE- Regional Skills Horizon And Pathways to Employment project | Munster Technological University (MTU) | Regional | €4,154,602 |
| TUS Just Transition Academy (TUS-JTA) | Technological University of Shannon: Midlands West | Offaly | €768,265 |
| Lisheen Master plan and associated works | Tipperary County Council | Tipperary | €1,000,000 |
| Activation of a publicly owned landbank in the town of Templemore for the purposes of providing lands to meet the employment and recreational needs of those within the Just Transition area. | Tipperary County Council | Tipperary | €344,085 |
| Fiesta Hall - Green Enterprise and Climate Action Centre | Offaly Integrated Local Development CLG | Offaly | €348,534 |
.* Subject to grant agreement.
.** Manorhamilton Innovation and Development Community will deliver this project in Co. Roscommon.
Call 2: Community and Enterprise Grants Scheme
| Project name | Organisation | Location | Approved Funding Amount |
| Strawchip | Strawchip Ltd | Ballycullane | €300,000 |
| CycleUp | Roscommon Women's Network | Castlerea | €188,649 |
| Derrymore Sphagnum Farm | Derrymore Peat Ltd | Longford | €300,000 |
| Ecochip Energy | Ecochip Energy Ltd | Castlepollard | €300,000 |
| Ethica Planet – Mycelium | Ethica Planet Foods Ltd | Tullamore | €250,000 |
| Waste Substrate Recycling | Kelly's Nursery Ltd | Mullingar | €300,000 |
| Renewables Training Delivery | SCT Consultancy Ltd | Thurles | €207,735 |
| Offshore Piling Noise Reduction System | Justin Cunningham Ltd | Cashel | €299,838 |
| Training Centre and Office | All About Trees Ltd | Highfield | €296,774 |
| Poet's Cottage Community Café | Camross Heritage Ltd | Camross | €256,403 |
| EV Technician Training | Primo Coachworks Ltd | Ferbane | €172,578 |
| Insulation Retrofit Training/Staff | Energy Communities Tipperary Cooperative Company Limited by Guarantee | Nenagh | €172,152 |
| Peatlands for Prosperity | Green Restoration Ireland Cooperative Society Ltd | Offaly | €299,054 |
| Waste Plastic Disposal Facility | Alister Future Technologies | Longford | €300,000 |
| The Social Enterprise Exchange | Cluster Centre Platform Ltd | Athlone (Roscommon) | €129,999 |
.* Subject to grant agreement.
Call 3 - Local Economic and Community Plans
| Project name | Organisation | Location | **Approved Funding Amount * ** |
| Longford Enterprise and Energy Centre | Longford County Council | Longford | €793,822 |
| The Dalton Centre – Enabling the Transition to Net Zero | Offaly County Council | Offaly | €1,000,000 |
| Kildare's Green Upskilling Programme | County Kildare Leader Partnership Company Limited by Guarantee | Kildare | €709,314 |
| GreenSkills Reboot: Empowering the transition to a sustainable future through skills bootcamps | Generation: You Employed, Ireland Company Limited by Guarantee | Meath** | €235,448 |
| RegenTEC – Regeneration Training and Education Centre | Kildare County Council | Kildare | €998,802 |
| Development of Canal Road Business Park, Portarlington | Laois County Council | Laois | €999,963.25 |
| Wetlands Wastewater treatment plant | Allenwood Community Development Association Company Limited by Guarantee | Kildare | €287,652.73 |
| Glas don Saol | The County Kildare Local Employment Service Network Company Limited by Guarantee | Kildare | €299,491 |
| Kilcormac Sustainable Development Project | Kilcormac Development Association | Offaly | €231,787.68 |
| Ballinasloe Enterprise Hub: Empowering Local Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Employment | Ballinasloe Area Community Development | Galway | €263,478.56 |
. * Subject to grant agreement
.** Generation: You Employed is based in Meath, however, the project is being delivered in the Midlands Designated Territory
The above tables detail all projects which have been approved for funding under the LRESSS, to date. Details of officially selected operations can be found on EMRA's website. Officially selected operations are projects which have been approved for funding which, in addition, have grant agreements in place.