Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2013
135. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will detail policies being implemented by his Department to tackle the competitive disadvantage experienced by rural enterprises and in particular those enterprises located along the border. [18623/13]
View answerThe achievement of balanced regional growth is a core objective of Government. Promoting entrepreneurship, attracting inward investment and facilitating the key infrastructural needs of Irish enterprise across all regions is vital to ensuring a vigorous pipeline of new business leaders, new business ideas and entrepreneurial activity. The Action Plan for Jobs is a whole of Government, national strategy aimed at creating and sustaining jobs across all regions of the State. The objective of balanced regional development is supported by the EU Commission’s Regional Aid Guidelines, which recognise that some regions can face significant structural disadvantage. The Guidelines permit Member States to grant higher investment aid to these areas. Under Ireland’s current Regional Aid Map, the highest rates are afforded to the Border, Midlands and West (BMW) region.
The establishment of a one-stop-shop to provide micro enterprise support through the dissolution of the existing CEB offices and the creation of a new network of Local Enterprise offices (LEOs) will ensure an enhanced delivery of support to micro enterprises in the regions in question and nationally.
Microfinance Ireland is providing support, in the form of loans of up to €25,000 available to start-up, newly-established or growing microenterprises employing less than 10 people with viable business propositions that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by the banks. The Fund has a significant entrepreneurship focus and is open to anyone with a viable business proposal.
I understand from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government that under the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2007-2013, LEADER provides both direct and indirect support to enterprise start-ups and already established microenterprises in rural areas all over Ireland. Since 2009, almost €20m has been provided for direct support to enterprise in rural Ireland through the RDP. A significant proportion of the resources provided through the RDP Training Measure, which has registered a further €10m in expenditure to date, also provide indirect capacity building and mentoring support for rural entrepreneurs.
Enterprise Ireland continues to work with its 700 client companies in the region to support their growth in 2013. To support the development of a pipeline of High Potential Start-Ups in the Border region, EI has the following initiatives in place:
- The New Frontiers Programme, with funding of €4.25m, in IT Sligo/Letterkenny and Dundalk Institute of Technology/DCU.
- On February 15, 2013 the Government launched a €200k Competitive Feasibility Fund aimed at stimulating start-ups and creating jobs and growth in the North East Region. Funding of up to €25,000 per project was available under this initiative.
- The “Get Export Ready” Programme encompasses a wide range of practical measures for early exporters focusing on export readiness, the importance of research, developing a value proposition and the skills of export selling.
- Innovation Vouchers worth €5,000, give small companies access to the vast knowledge available in Irish Institutes of Technology, Universities and other public research bodies. Since their inception in 2007, 485 vouchers have been awarded to companies in the Border Region worth a total of €2.4m.
I am confident that the measures set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, together with the other initiatives in place, will assist the development of investment and employment opportunities in the Border Region and the country generally.
