David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for the work they are doing. I ask them to feed the following point back. The reports I have been getting about the LEOs have been fantastic. These reports have detailed the work the LEOs have been doing during the pandemic and since. Lots of small businesses were sustained and got supports to help them keep people in jobs because of the work of the LEOs. The question I would ask is whether Enterprise Ireland has reviewed the geographical spread of the LEOs. In other words, could there be more of them? They are doing such a good job. The witnesses might come back to me on that.

I congratulate Enterprise Ireland on joining the Open Doors Initiative, which, as the witnesses know, I am involved with. I am also interested in diversity and inclusion. Having Enterprise Ireland involved is huge because its philosophy will hopefully be passed on through its client members. From what I can see, it is doing good work.

I have a few questions on the lean for micro and green for micro schemes and the Starting Strong business programme. What is the take-up in respect of those? What level of interest has there been? The witnesses might also indicate the level of take-up in respect of the Ukraine enterprise crisis scheme. The schemes are relatively new. What level of interest is there and what has the take-up been so far? How much has been spent on those schemes?

The documentation supplied indicates that eligible companies are defined as companies that are involved in international trading. Does that exclude companies that are not involved in international trading, including those that produce for Ireland only? What support is there for companies that are not involved in international trade?

The witnesses spoke to Deputy Bruton about companies starting up, growing and so on. When companies like that reach a certain level, the are often sold off. Is there a barrier to them growing or do we need to do more to help them to scale up further and remain in Irish ownership or in the ownership of their shareholders or founders? This is an issue that has been brought to my attention once or twice. I am curious about Enterprise Ireland's experience in this regard. Those are my initial questions.