Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 April 2018
325. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the budget allocation and the number of participants for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur in 2017 and 2018. [18004/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) is an initiative under the Government's Action Plan for Jobs which is run by the 31 LEOs nationwide in partnership with the Local Authorities.
The initiative is funded by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland.
The aims of the competition are to support a culture of entrepreneurship at local level, to promote entrepreneurship as a career choice among young people in Ireland and to encourage Ireland’s young people to set up new businesses which will ultimately scale and create jobs in every county in Ireland.
IBYE has a total investment fund of €2 million, including a €50,000 Investment Fund for each of the 31 LEOs and further investment to the winners at regional and national level.
The initiative is open to people aged between 18 and 35 and is run across three categories:
- Best Business Idea (pre-trading)
- Best Start-Up Business (up to 18 months)
- Best Established Business (over 18 months).
The budget allocations, including the investment funds, administrative and promotional costs and the numbers of participants in 2016/17 and 2017/18 winner are set out in the table.
Since the initiative began in 2014, over 5,700 young people have participated in IBYE. A survey of the winning entries over 2014 to 2016 shows that they have created 2,200 jobs and achieved some €124m in export sales. Participants that do not win investments are offered opportunities to participates in business bootcamps or to receive business mentoring.
The 2017/18 National Final took place on 22nd of April 2018. The winner was Conor O’Loughlin of Glofox, who won a €45,000 investment fund through the Local Enterprise Office Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown.
|
IBYE Budget Allocation |
||
|
Year |
2016/17 |
2017/18* |
|
Total € |
2,605,224.99 |
2,584,000* |
* The 2017/18 Budget Allocation is provisional as the associated administrative costs from the rescheduling of the National Finals at the beginning of March (due to the weather) have yet to be finalised.
|
IBYE Applications |
||
|
Year |
2016/17 |
2017/18 |
|
Total |
1,837 |
1,471 |
