Austin Deasy
Question:295 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will, in conjunction with Forbairt, embark on a programme to provide enterprise centres in every town and large village in the country. [12952/97]
Written Answers. - Enterprise Centre Programme.
A community enterprise centre programme has been in place since 1989. Launched by the Minister for Industry and Commerce in that year, the programme is designed to support community groups which wish to establish enterprise centres in their locality. I will arrange for an information sheet to be sent to the Deputy giving details of the programme and outlining the criteria with which applicant groups must comply in order to qualify for assistance.
To date, 52 community groups throughout the country have been assisted to develop an enterprise centre in their particular area. A list of these groups and the year of approval will issue to the Deputy. Forbairt is keen to support communities establishing enterprise centres and is, therefore, very committed to the programme. The agency considers the programme has been very successful to date — already a number of phase II developments have been supported. Forbairt's regional offices are in discussion at the moment with a number of local groups regarding the possibility of establishing further centres around the country and a number of applications for potential new centres is under consideration.