Ms Tara McCarthy:

I will give some history about our relationship with the local enterprise offices. We commenced a change in our relationship with them in 2012, with the establishment of a memorandum of understanding between our two organisations. One of the key changes happening at that time was that we were getting a huge number of start-ups in the food industry and it was a challenge for us to answer all the queries that were coming through to us. We were also conscious that the county enterprise boards were in a similar position and that there was a significant danger that we were duplicating each other's efforts. If I gave one answer, the county enterprise board might give a different one, and lines of communication were not as fluid as they could and should be. We reached out to establish a memorandum of understanding and to ensure that any food company was getting the right type of help at a local level, rather than having to come to Dublin, where we are based. We worked with the local enterprise offices in this journey. We brought every local enterprise office to Bord Bia to train them in food because, as the Deputy commented, we were conscious that there were varying degrees of exposure to food. The number of companies that would previously have come to a local enterprise office varied, so they did not all have a great degree of experience. Some counties would have had a very strong level of interest, while others might not have dealt with such queries. We brought everyone in to train them on how best to use Bord Bia in the first instance, rather than using consultants or external resources. Once that journey was finished, we designed a programme for them to deliver so that, again, they did not have to use consultants for it. It also had the benefit that one got the same course and content no matter what county one was in. We also facilitated the identification of suitable mentors who were strong in food and had experience in that area, rather than just being strong in the area of start-up businesses.

Financially, we did not contribute to the programme. What we were doing was very much the content element, the contacts and the design of the programme. We funded all of that, but the enterprise offices themselves, which operate on an individual county basis, rather than a centrally-funded basis, funded their own programmes. We also reached out to SuperValu because we felt that would add more value. When we were talking to our entrepreneurs, we found that when the State says something to them it is one thing, but when the retailer and potential customer suggests a change to their packaging or flavours, that change happens much more quickly, as a commercial interest is at stake. The benefits of that programme were huge.

That is a long answer to the Deputy’s question on how we funded it. We fully agree with him that mentoring is very important in the food industry. That is why we were looking for the quality from our Food Academy start-up programme that we received at the very beginning. In all our programmes, whether the Tesco or the Food Works programme, we handpick the mentors we use to ensure they have relevant, recent and robust experience to share. That is one of the key differentiators we use in that selection process. Ms Twomey might add something to that.