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Local Enterprise Offices

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 February 2018

Wednesday, 7 February 2018

Ceisteanna (61)

Joe Carey

Ceist:

61. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the way in which the local enterprise offices can be better utilised to support job creation in rural Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5765/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

My priority as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation is to drive the creation of high-quality and sustainable jobs around all the regions and counties of Ireland. The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) play a critical role in supporting microenterprises in the start-up and expansion phases in every part of the country.

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the ‘first-stop-shop’ for providing advice and guidance, financial assistance and ‘soft’ supports in the form of training and mentoring to anyone wishing to start or grow a business and develop existing micro and small businesses.

The LEOs provide a ‘signposting’ service in relation to all relevant state supports available through agencies such as Revenue, the Department of Social Protection, Education and Training Boards, the Credit Review Office and Microfinance Ireland.

This year the Capital allocation made available to the 31 LEOs is €22.5m which is being used to fund LEO clients by way of financial assistance and a range of soft supports such as training and mentoring. This allocation is supplemented by a further €2 million investment fund for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur Competition in 2018 which has attracted almost 1,500 applications nationwide.

A net total of 3,700 new jobs were delivered in 2017 by start-ups and small businesses from across the country that have been supported by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs).

This brings the total number of new jobs created by LEO-backed companies nationwide to 15,000 since the LEOs were set up in 2014.

A new client portfolio management model will be rolled out this year nationally to the LEOs by Enterprise Ireland, which will support portfolio performance and potential.

Clients in each LEO portfolio will be evaluated and segmented with a view to identifying the most appropriate supports to meet their needs.

The LEOs will work with those clients to maximise the performance of their overall client portfolio.

The new model aims at driving effective client engagement, enhancing portfolio performance and increasing levels of client progression towards scale and exporting.

Nationally there are 8 Regional Action Plans and the 31 LEOs sit on the Implementation Committees of each and actively participate in the driving, progression and implementation of these Action Plans.

The LEOs also play a key role in the delivery nationally of four key objectives in the Action Plan for Rural Development including the ‘Options Plus’ programme for improving off-farm income generation of farmers and to link farm families with a variety of learning opportunities provided by other agencies including the ETBs, LDCs , third level institutions and the Department of Social Protection.

As part of the Trading Online Voucher Scheme under the National Digital Strategy, the LEOs approve a minimum of 1,000 vouchers per annum to micro businesses across the country of which approximately 60% will be from rural Ireland.

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