Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
34. Deputy Ciarán Cannon asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on the employment results of the local enterprise offices for 2021; the regional spread of same; the factors behind the level of job increases; the estimated level of job creation that is anticipated in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7047/22]
View answerThe Local Enterprise Offices have just come out of an 8th consecutive year of growth with 7,400 new jobs created by LEO clients in 2021. The LEOs now support over 7,100 companies financially within their portfolio with almost 36,000 associated jobs and a net gain of 3,000 jobs in 2021. That is not to mention the thousands of other businesses they have helped with additional supports such as training and mentoring programmes, the Trading Online Voucher scheme, LEAN for Micro, Green for Micro and the Start Your Own Business programme.
Housed within the 31 Local Authorities, the Local Enterprise Offices are at the very heart of business development and entrepreneurship in towns and communities right across the country. This is shown by the figures reported, with 85% of Local Enterprise Office client company employment based outside of Dublin.
In 2021 Ireland’s small business community faced the perfect storm with a global pandemic, Brexit and international supply chain issues. With compassion, expertise, and enthusiasm the Local Enterprise staff have worked tirelessly with small business owners to see what was possible, how things could work differently and find solutions to the issues facing businesses. This has included diversification of their products or services, pivoting to online trading, sourcing new suppliers or paths to market, and exploring foreign markets.
While challenges remain in 2022, there is resilience in the Irish business community and a renewed optimism for the future growth of our small and micro businesses. Therefore we anticipate, that with the right measures in place, employment in the LEO client companies will increase by 3,500.
The additional €2m allocated to the Local Enterprise Offices in Budget 2022 will help in achieving this goal and allow the Local Enterprise Offices to continue to provide focused guidance in the areas of sustainability and greening their businesses and also digitalisation and e-commerce.
The Green for Micro programme, launched in March 2021, will receive additional funding this year. This scheme enables businesses to take those first steps on becoming more sustainable. Businesses now know this is not just about protecting the environment and achieving cost savings but that their partners and customers are demanding sustainable business practices.
In the past two years more than 17,000 Irish businesses have been approved for the Trading Online Voucher, which has enabled them to open their virtual doors to the world.
In 2022 we will work with small businesses to begin or continue their journey of digitalisation. Similar to the Green for Micro scheme, a new digitalisation programme will help businesses take those first steps and see how the process can benefit their business. Exporting and selling into new markets has never been easier for small businesses and we plan to assist more businesses to grow, scale and reach export stage in 2022.
Ireland's small businesses can compete with the best in the world, and through the Local Enterprise Offices, we will give them the tools to help them achieve that.
