Mr. Gerry Wrynn:

There was a question about the enterprise centres in Omagh and Carrick-on-Shannon.

The INTERREG programme was all about developing enterprise and it was felt there should be some legacies at the end of it rather than spending all the money on ongoing capacity-building. Both Carrick-on-Shannon and Omagh could perhaps be considered peripheral in the wider region. In this regard, a group called the Irish Central Border Area Network, ICBAN, was established. It includes the local authorities in the cross-Border region in the west of Northern Ireland and the midlands in the Republic. It proposed that what was needed to kick-start start-ups and small businesses in Leitrim and the relevant part of Tyrone was the building of enterprise centres that would serve as incubator units so smaller businesses starting up would have a ready-made facility that was not already in existence. The Omagh centre was actually an extension of an existing facility that had been built using previous INTERREG funding. It had been very successful and there was a need for more capacity. Leitrim County Enterprise Board was very strongly involved with the one in Leitrim. It was built in Carrick-on-Shannon to provide a base to help start-ups and smaller businesses that had nowhere to locate, and it was also to facilitate mentoring and the offering of support to those businesses. Obviously, the capital cost of both centres was borne by our Department and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland, with the refund coming back later from the European Union. The tenants in the premises pay a rent. It does not cover the capital cost but it will cover the ongoing costs of both centres. In fact, both have been quite successful although I am sure there was some scepticism initially. The Leitrim centre, in particular, had a very good take-up. Many businesses are located there and the prospects are good.