Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2011
141 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the way ready access to the provisions of the jobs initiative can be made in the case of a person (details supplied) to create a number of jobs which will involve import substitution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20523/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Jobs Initiative, which was announced by the Government on 10 May, represented a positive intervention to support those entrepreneurs and business people that will create jobs and rebuild our economy. The measures announced in the Jobs Initiative included the halving of Employer's PRSI on employee earnings up to €356 per week, reductions in the lower rate of VAT from 13.5% to 9%, and commitments on access to credit, procurement and microfinance. The extent to which these measures impact on a particular enterprise will depend on the nature and specific situation of the enterprise in question.
I also indicated, as part of the Jobs Initiative, that I will seek to increase the awareness and take up of existing State supports to businesses, including Revenue's Job Assist and the Employers PRSI Incentive Scheme. In this context, my Department's website, www.djei.ie, now includes links to some of the main supports available to businesses for job creation and productivity. Some of these supports are available from the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) and Enterprise Ireland, both of which come under my Department’s remit.
With regard to the specific enquiry made by the Deputy, I would advise the promoter in question to contact his local CEB — the Kildare County Enterprise Board — in the first instance, to discuss what options may be available to him and his proposed business venture. Kildare County Enterprise Board is located at:
The Woods,
Clane,
Co. Kildare.
Phone No: 045-861707, Fax No: 045-861712:
Email: info@kildareceb.ie
Website: www.kildare.ceb.ie
The core activities of the Board include:
provision of financial interventions to support business development;
provision of business advice and mentoring;
delivery of programmes aimed at improving the skills of owner managers so as to assist business survival rates and facilitate future growth;
creating local enterprise awareness and developing an enterprise culture.
The criteria under which financial assistance is available is based on factors such as the sector of the economy in which an enterprise is operating or intends to operate, and the size, or proposed size, of the enterprise. The enterprise must be in the commercial sphere, must demonstrate a market for the proposed product/service, must have a capacity for growth and new job creation and must not employ more than 10 people. Kildare County Enterprise Board must give priority to enterprises in the manufacturing or internationally traded services sector and must always give consideration to any potential for deadweight and displacement arising from a proposed enterprise. The provision of non-financial assistance can take the form of a wide range of business advice and information services, management capability training and development programmes, e-Commerce training initiatives etc.
