Mary O'Rourke
Question:13 Mrs. O'Rourke asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the steps, if any, he has taken to protect Irish companies from being targeted by fraudsters in relation to grants and other matters. [10556/97]
Other Questions. - Protection Against Fraud.
I would reiterate the views of others, particularly the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Deputy Gay Mitchell, that there is no necessity for any enterprise to engage the services of others, especially those who require an upfront fee, in making application for grant support or any other form of assistance provided by the European Union.
I would advise any company seeking information about eligibility for an EU grant or any form of assistance from public funds to go the direct route of approaching one of the State bodies such as the county enterprise board in their area or Forbairt to seek advice about funding sources.
A good start for any interested business would be to call the Enterprise Link on 1850 35 33 33. This service, which is operated by Forbairt staff and which can be accessed by members of the public from anywhere in the country for the price of a local telephone call, provides information and advice on a range of EU and State-backed schemes to promote the establishment and development of small business.
My Department is currently updating its information leaflet for small business which will provide easily accessible information and contact points. The agencies of my Department are participating in a series of nationwide briefings which are currently being organised by the regional authorities in conjunction with the EU Structural Funds Information Office. These information days will provide the general public, students, business and interested groups with up-to-date information on all types of EU financial support. The format for the days will include an exhibition and workshops.
The public should also be aware that a Government directory detailing all EU funding opportunities, entitled "European Funding in Ireland", is widely available free of charge from the Government Information Services.
I am not sure if giving telephone numbers in the Dáil is the proper way to deal with this problem. Such hoaxes have been perpetrated by companies in Portugal, Switzerland and Nigeria. While I accept that it should be a case of caveat emptor, these companies put persuasive cases to firms that they are eligible for funding about which they did not know and that they can obtain it faster for them. This problem has been going on for the past two years. I understood from a statement made by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on television that there would be liaison with the Garda fraud office to ensure that such cases were dealt with in a firmer way. However, there does not seem to have any increase in the protection afforded to companies against such fraud.
In a related case many people, including me, were asked to send business cards to a terminally ill child in the UK. The Royal Mail received millions of cards but there was no such child. However, that is a related issue and my concern relates to firms which are losing money. Has any effort being made to increase liaison with the Garda fraud office?
The bulk of the companies brought to the attention of my Department are not operating illegally. However, they are offering a service which is not worth paying for and, in that sense, are obtaining money which wise investors would not pay. To the extent that there are reports on such cases, most people have expressed dissatisfaction with the services of the company they engaged, which did little more than provide them with application forms they could have got elsewhere.
The companies got the money in advance.
My Department's agencies and business organisations which have substantial networks are urging companies to avoid using such services and to use the various information links and networks which are available. I will seek clarification on the specific cases raised by the Deputy to ascertain the elements of fraud which have been highlighted. I do not have information on such cases with me.