Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2018
81. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the support available to female entrepreneurs to start and scale up small and medium businesses; the details and available funding under the competitive start fund for female entrepreneurs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30457/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraA key focus of the Government's enterprise strategy, as set out in Enterprise 2025 Renewed, which I published earlier this year, is to ensure we continue to enhance the business environment so that it is conducive to entrepreneurship, start-up and growth of Irish-own enterprises across all strands of the economy and society.
The most recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor showed that Ireland’s rate of entrepreneurship among women is the 7th highest in Europe. However, men are still twice as likely to be entrepreneurs as women in Ireland.
Female founders have traditionally been underrepresented in start-ups, and that is why my Department and its agencies have a range of initiatives aimed at supporting women to start and scale businesses that provide quality jobs throughout the country.
Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting cohorts of ambitious, capable founders, and placing them on faster growth trajectories. Research undertaken by Enterprise Ireland in 2012 found that there were a number of key inhibitors to female entrepreneurship rates, and it developed an integrated strategy to address these issues and increase the number of female-founded start-ups in Ireland.
One of the key ways in which Enterprise Ireland supports female entrepreneurship is through its dedicated Competitive Start Funds. The first Competitive Start Fund for Female Entrepreneurs was launched in 2012, and since then there have been 8 dedicated female competitive start funds.
The most recent Competitive Start Fund for female entrepreneurs, which I launched earlier this year, made a total of €1m funding available for up to 20 female-led companies.
The demand is there. Enterprise Ireland received over 100 funding applications for this Fund, and the final selection for funding is currently taking place.
In 2017, 46 per cent of all companies who received CSF investment from Enterprise Ireland were female founded.
Every year Enterprise Ireland holds a Fuelling Ambition Roadshow, which aims to encourage, support and drive the ambition of female entrepreneurs (existing and new). A total of 7 roadshow events were held in 2018, attended by c600 female entrepreneurs, across the country.
The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are also actively engaged in encouraging and inspiring an increase in female-led businesses through initiatives such as the annual National Women’s Enterprise Day and the Women in Business Networks. In addition, 61% of participants attending LEO training programmes in 2017 were female with 46% of the LEO mentoring participants female.
Another key Enterprise Ireland supported initiative is the 'Going for Growth' programme. Currently in its 10th cycle, the initiative supports female entrepreneurs who have been trading for at least two years and are strongly focused on growth. Feedback shows that participants’ businesses experienced a growth in sales over the 9th cycle of over €20million and employment rose by 17.5%.
We are making progress and I feel confident that we can achieve further increases in the future.
