Claire Kerrane
Ceist:119. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the grants that are available for a business (details supplied) in tabular form. [49282/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 6 October 2022
Ceisteanna (119)
Freagraí scríofa
The Local Enterprise Offices nationwide act as a ‘First Stop Shop’ for providing information, guidance, training and development and financial assistance to anyone looking to start, grow or pivot their own business. The Local Enterprise Offices act as a ‘signposting’ service for all government supports available to SME’s and can provide information and referrals to other relevant bodies under agreed protocols e.g., Revenue, Micro Finance Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, LEADER, and Enterprise Ireland.
The Local Enterprise Offices offer direct grant aid to businesses operating in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors which, over time, have the potential to develop into strong export entities.
The Local Enterprise Offices can also provide a wide range of high-quality business and management development programmes that are tailored to meet specific business requirements. I would encourage anyone who is running their own business to speak with the experienced business advisors within their Local Enterprise Office regarding the assistance they can offer.
In particular, the Mentor programme, which is designed to match up the knowledge, skills, insights and entrepreneurial capability of experienced business practitioners with small business owner, can provide expert guidance on the best course of action to develop a small business.
Other programmes such as LEAN for Micro and Green for Micro provide business owners with tools and advice on reducing costs and increasing efficiencies within their business. In addition, I would encourage enterprises to enquire about digital supports such as the Digital Start Programme and the Trading Online Voucher scheme which can assist businesses in developing their e-commerce capabilities and includes further training in digital marketing and social media.
The above interventions along with supports available from other Government agencies can be found on the supportingsmes.gov.ie website. This is a cross-governmental guide to help small businesses know which of the over 170 Government supports are relevant to their business.