Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for his question. It comes from an accountant and, with the Minister being an accountant, I feel less qualified to answer it but I will do my best.

The local enterprise offices, LEOs, are located in 31 local authorities to promote a suite of supports designed to assist small businesses to reduce their costs and become more productive and competitive. The LEOs provide consultancy and grants to small businesses across all sectors in the areas of lean, green and digital. These supports focus on enhancing productivity while improving competitiveness, and they can help business owners identify opportunities to save money, time and energy. The LEOs also play a crucial role in supporting small businesses to build financial capability, including a practical understanding of profit, loss and cash flow management.

Training programmes are scheduled based on local demand and delivered on a tailored basis to meet the specific needs of small businesses. LEOs are consistently encouraged to prioritise financial literacy when designing their training calendars. This year, the LEOs delivered a wide range of targeted courses to enhance the financial understanding of SMEs. Each course is designed to equip small businesses with practical skills in financial planning, cash flow forecasting and understanding profitability. Among the courses delivered were financial foundations for small businesses, managing cash flow in business, managing your cash flow, fundamentals in business finance and bookkeeping and accountancy for small businesses.

The LEOs also offer a start your own business training programme aimed at those who have a business idea or have recently set up a small business. This programme includes a dedicated finance module to ensure new entrepreneurs gain essential financial knowledge.

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