The county enterprise boards, CEBs, continue to work actively with local people to set up, grow and develop micro-enterprises. The boards, whose work results in dispersed economic development throughout the country, provides a comprehensive system of capital and employment grants and support, mentoring, advice, training and development for new and existing micro-enterprises.
The city and county enterprise boards comprise voluntary members who possess a wide range of expertise and knowledge of their local area which enables the CEBs to tailor their activities to the specific needs of the locality. This is an essential element in the development of micro-enterprise throughout the country.
My Department continues to strongly support the role of the county enterprise boards throughout the country. While recognising the current need for budgetary restraint, policy remains unchanged in its strong commitment to the support and development of the indigenous sector. In this regard, discussions are under way between my Department and Forfás, given the valuable role played by the city and county enterprise boards, to plan their future development.
