Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 October 2023
132. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for a breakdown of the €9 million allocated to Local Enterprise Offices to increase Measure 1 and Measure 2 grants, Trading on-line vouchers, Lean, Green and Digitalisation Programmes. [45600/23]
View answerAn additional €9m has been allocated in Budget 2024 to the Local Enterprise Offices to enable them to continue their work assisting business start-ups in local towns and communities across the country. This reflects the ambition this government has for the LEOs and for supporting small businesses throughout the country.
Each year, in line with the standard budgetary process, my Department engages with the Enterprise Ireland Centre of Excellence, who in turn consult the Local Enterprise Office network regarding the formulation of a forecast for the year ahead. This process will determine the level of funding required by each programme and ensure the LEOs are adequately resourced to provide their services. The allocation to individual LEO programmes is yet to be finalised and will be subject to the approval of the Enterprise Ireland board.
In line with the White Paper on Enterprise, digital transformation and decarbonisation and net zero commitments remain at the forefront of our approach, and we want to help small businesses in these twin transitions. Therefore, the resources that have been allocated in Budget 2024 are focused on schemes that will help small businesses, through their Local Enterprise Office, to digitalise and to decarbonise.
I am pleased to confirm that funding has been allocated for the Energy Efficiency Grant, which is designed to provide businesses with capital investment to reduce carbon emissions based on energy efficiency projects. The rationale of the scheme is to support companies in reducing their carbon emissions and overall energy costs by accelerating the adoption of low carbon technologies or processes.
Budget 2024 also allocated funding to allow the LEOs to continue to extend their financial supports to businesses who have grown to over 10 employees and have ambition to begin exporting.
The LEOs have also launched a new national campaign, All in a Day’s Work. This campaign emphasis the benefits of making a business more efficient, productive, and sustainable. It focuses on how the Lean, Green and Digital products offered by the LEOs can help businesses to save time, money and energy. These supports will receive additional funding from the €9m additional allocation.
