Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2019
583. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the budget allocation for local enterprise offices in each of the years from 2014 to 2019, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19342/19]
View answerThe Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the ‘first-stop-shop’ for providing advice, guidance, financial assistance and other supports to those wishing to start or grow their own business. The LEOs offer direct grant aid to microenterprises (10 employees or fewer) in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sector which, over time, have the potential to develop into strong export entities. Subject to certain eligibility criteria, the LEOs provide financial assistance within three main categories, i.e., Feasibility, Priming and Business Development grants for existing businesses that want to expand.
For anyone interested in starting or growing a business, the LEOs may be able to offer ‘soft’ support in the form of training (e.g. a Start Your Own Business course); a mentor to work with the business proposer; or targeted programmes such as Lean for Micro (to help boost business productivity and competitiveness).
The table below details the capital allocation to the Local Enterprise Offices for the years 2014 – 2019:
|
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
|
€18,500,000 |
€18,500,000 |
€18,500,000 |
€22,500,000 |
€22,500,000 |
€27,500,000 |
