Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 24 Mar 1992

Vol. 417 No. 5

Written Answers. - Entrepreneurial Opportunities of Women.

Paul Bradford

Ceist:

446 Mr. Bradford asked the Minister for Labour of he will outline the incentives and initiatives sponsored or implemented by his Department to encourage entrepreneurial opportunities for women, and if any assistance, either financial or otherwise, is available to help in the creation of small businesses to recruit extra staff.

Minister for Labour (Mr. Cowen)

Support is available through FÁS and CERT by way of training programmes and employment schemes for persons, including women, interested in setting up small businesses.

Training in enterprise and co-operative development is provided by FÁS which also operates an integrated enterprise programme. This provides a full range of support services to individuals and to groups who are setting up new businesses, including short specific training programmes, advice and finance. The programme includes business appraisal training during which training allowances are paid, followed by technical training, income support in the form of enterprise payments through the enterprise scheme, enterprise workshops and access to business advice.

The enterprise scheme provides payments of £40 per week for self-employed people without dependants, and £65 per week per persons with dependants for up to 40 weeks. The business being established under the enterprise scheme must be potentially viable and be full-time and independent.

To qualify for participation in the scheme an individual has to be unemployed and signing on the live register, and be getting unemployment assistance/unemployment benefit/disability benefit for 13 weeks immediately beforehand. Attending a training course qualifies for part of the 13 weeks.

Through its co-operative unit and community enterprise programme FÁS offers financial assistance to groups prepared to set up enterprises. Support services provided through these programmes include: flexible training packages for what the group needs at various stages of development; development grants for product investigation and group development; enterprise worker grants — to employ an enterprise worker to develop specific business ideas to the point of start-up; commercial aid grant towards management costs; and commercial aid grant in the form of wage subsidies for commercially viable projects in manufacturing and selected services sectors. Advice and access to other State supports are also offered.

FÁS also operates the employment incentive and subsidy schemes which provide assistance to employers, including small businesses, to recruit additional staff through the payment of subsidies. The incentive scheme encourages the recruitment of long term unemployed persons, early school leavers and other disadvantaged persons through the payment of a subsidy of £60 or £45 for 39 weeks. The recently introduced subsidy scheme encourages the recruitment of persons who have been on the live register for at least eight weeks through payment of a subsidy of £54 for 52 weeks provided the recruit is retained in employment for 78 weeks.

CERT assistance is provided by means of its business start-up scheme which helps persons interested in setting up enterprises to test and launch new tourism and catering businesses.