My Department's position, as outlined in my letter, is as follows. The function of the county enterprise boards is to provide support for the development of micro-enterprises, which are defined as small businesses with ten or fewer employees. The boards were set up in 1993 on a statutory basis for this specific purpose. Their role is to assist in developing indigenous enterprise potential, to stimulate economic activity at local level and to promote micro-enterprise formation.
The county enterprise boards are currently funded under the micro-enterprise measure of the national development plan. This measure supports the development and competitiveness of small local enterprise and their movement up the value chain. Financial assistance is provided selectively towards the establishment and initial development of micro-enterprises and is subject to the strict conditions applying to that measure under the national development plan.