Vol. 570 No. 2
90 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of city and county enterprise boards in existence throughout the State; the number of full-time staff that are employed by these boards; and the annual budget for the operation of these boards. [18591/03]
There are 35 city and county enterprise boards located throughout the country, of which 13 are located in the Border, midlands and west region and 22 in the south and east region. The boards employ a total of 145 full-time staff and were established in October 1993 as companies limited by guarantee to provide a new source of support for small businesses with ten employees or fewer. Section 10 of the Industrial Development Act 1995 gave them formal statutory recognition. The boards provide a single point of contact at local level and complement the activities of other industrial development agencies.
The annual budget for the operation of the city and county enterprise boards for 2003 stands at €31 million. For the period 2000-06, the boards form part of the local enterprise development sub-programme of the Border, midlands and western and the southern and eastern operational programmes of the national development plan.
