Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Enterprise Ireland's high potential start-up scheme is a good initiative, which has been highly successful, as the Minister pointed out. However, an issue arises with the scheme and it was flagged by Deputy Lawlor. The flow-through from some parts of the country is not what it should be because the local enterprise offices, LEOs, do not have sufficient resources to assist companies to access the Enterprise Ireland cycle. The Minister referred to the new competitive call for local enterprise offices. In some areas, for example, counties Roscommon and Galway, the offices do not have sufficient staff to deal with the current workload to assist high potential start-ups, not to speak of having the time to submit a competitive call.

I will explain the figures involved. The number of combined front-line local enterprise office staff dealing with clients in counties Roscommon and Galway is lower than in County Mayo. We have one staff member in Roscommon and one in Galway servicing a population equivalent to the population living within the canals in Dublin. It is incorrect to claim the local enterprise offices are being adequately resourced and something needs to be done to provide a fair balance of staffing support. As previous speakers noted, it is the soft supports that are important because without access to these supports through the staff of local enterprise offices who can direct people to the right place, potential start-ups will not gain access to the resources they need.

On subhead 8, I have written to the Minister about the grant aid available from local enterprise offices. As he will be aware, it is traditional in counties Roscommon and Galway for the funding for grants to be exhausted by the middle of the year, as occurred again this year. This means people who want to start a business must wait until the following year. I have already forwarded to the Minister details of a case involving a young man who has been unemployed for four years. He set up a business and has tendered for a major contract that would lead to the creation of a second job, but he cannot secure a small amount of grant aid to purchase a van that would allow him to get his business up and running. This is the type of challenge we are facing in seeking to create jobs.

As the Minister will be aware, areas such as east County Galway and County Roscommon will not attract major multinational companies. The way to support employment in such areas is to provide support for local enterprise offices. Without staff and sufficient funding to provide the valuable but small amounts of grant aid that would enable businesses to operate effectively, jobs will not be created and we will not have flows into high potential start-ups that will, I hope, create five or ten jobs in the years to come.