Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this very important issue. When the county enterprise boards were first set up, I happened to be a member of the local authority in south Tipperary and was nominated to the county enterprise board. I saw at first hand, in very difficult times, the role the board could play within the community. I know people who started industries which are now employing 150 people, with one in particular that came to the county enterprise board for a feasibility study. That young man was unemployed but now has 150 people in one of his several companies.

The county enterprise role is a very good model to support the many unemployed people and those losing their jobs right across the country. There are 400,000 to 500,000 people out of work nationally and in our constituency in Tipperary South there are 954 people on the live register in Cahir, 1,600 in Carrick-on-Suir, 1,900 in Clonmel, 818 in Cashel and 1,252 in Tipperary Town. The numbers will increase in these areas because of the effect of Dell in Limerick announcing the shedding of many jobs. That will have an impact in our part of the country.

I remember when county enterprise boards were first set up. They did really imaginative work to help many people with various skills to initiate businesses. Many people need help, whether it is with accounts, available grants or rules, laws and regulations. Such skilled people have ideas and can set up and run a company. There is a real role for the county enterprise boards, using FÁS, to act as the catalyst in helping people with banking or accounting skills, for example. The number might not be substantial but there is real potential in these people. Services are required and there is significant opportunity there.

This must be done in co-operation with FÁS and if that body could be tied in with the process, it would be a great way of helping people establish their own businesses. This could happen in the food area, as I come from a county that is rich in its food products. There is a need to expand concepts such as market garden farming and the country markets, which are increasing in number around the country. There is also the tourist element. The potential of the county enterprise boards is significant.

I ask the Minister to implement this as a policy to help people who are unemployed but who want to stay in this country and have an idea which could be brought to fruition. Regardless of the help these people require, it could be a very cost-effective process. The structures exist and the models are in every county. With a bit of co-ordination and support, we could do a great job in helping people in these dire times. People are frightened but they want to help the economy and get up on their own. They want to rear their families themselves rather than come to the Government looking for something. This would give such people a start.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

We are in the most challenging economic environment that has confronted our nation in modern times. The Government has acknowledged this and has embarked on addressing this situation in a concerted fashion. The Government focused on safeguarding the financial system so that it could continue to operate to sustain the real economy and in particular contribute positively to the enterprise sector. Government action on the banks guarantee scheme, the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank and the recapitalisation scheme has been timely, proportionate and essential.

Under the recapitalisation scheme, AIB and Bank of Ireland have committed to increasing their lending capacity to small and medium enterprises by 10%. As part of the package, the Financial Regulator has introduced a code of conduct for business lending to small and medium enterprises which will facilitate lending to small and medium enterprises and promote greater transparency in the treatment of small and medium enterprises by the banks. The code extends beyond AIB and Bank of Ireland and covers the primary lending banks.

In our document Building Ireland's Smart Economy, the Government put forward a framework for sustainable economic renewal. This document sets out actions to reorganise the economy over the next five years to secure the prosperity of current and future generations. Central to our economic renewal is a thriving enterprise sector, high-quality employment, secure energy supplies, an attractive environment and first class infrastructure. The Government is also addressing public spending in terms of bridging the gap between budgetary demands and Exchequer inflows and focusing on how to achieve significant savings. We have already made decisions on measures to effect savings of €2 billion in 2009.

All of these measures will sustain our economy and ensure that we are well positioned for the economic upturn when it arises. These efforts will directly assist enterprise activity within the economy, particularly at the level of small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government is committed to ensuring that we continue to put in place policies and programmes that encourage the emergence of new business opportunities and facilitate long-term business survival.

The 35 county and city enterprise boards have a clearly defined role as the principal deliverers of State support to the micro-enterprise sector in Ireland. This sector is a key component of the indigenous small business sector and has been to the forefront of Ireland's recent economic success. As a result of their strong regional and cumulatively national presence, the network of county enterprise boards is providing a seamless availability of business support, funding and mentoring to the micro-enterprise sector, thus facilitating the growth of this sector over the last 15 years. In addition, the micro-enterprises supported by the enterprise boards have played a key role in providing the sub-supply and support services that are essential in attracting foreign direct investment into the county.

The enterprise boards have an excellent track record in tapping into local entrepreneurial potential and their focus has increasingly been on the development of sustainable growth-orientated local enterprise, which can deliver high quality job creation without displacement or deadweight. The current parameters within which the enterprise boards operate enable them to deliver valuable assistance to business start-ups with good growth and employment potential. Through the provision of both financial and non-financial support, the boards have assisted many micro-enterprises in developing their growth and export potential as well as bringing them to a stage where they have sufficient mass to access the services of Enterprise Ireland.

Since 1993 to the end of 2008, the CEBs have issued grant payments to the total value of €201,159,002 and since their establishment in 1993, the total number of projects which have been approved for financial assistance is 20,796. Over 33,811 net jobs were created in CEB assisted enterprises from 1993 until the end of 2008

The enterprise boards have, in particular, deepened their role in promoting a culture of entrepreneurship in their localities. The provision of management capability training, direct mentoring and of networking opportunities carries its own value and its own weight. Over 165,700 people have participated on the various management development programmes and mentoring programmes available from the county enterprise boards since 1993. This represents a significant financial investment by this State in the micro-enterprise sector for the last 16 years and is also an investment in the future development of this sector. All of this contributes to job creation by boosting the survival rate among micro businesses and facilitating the future growth and employment potential of those businesses.

In 2009 the enterprise boards will continue to deliver on their primary role of assisting and supporting the micro-enterprise sector through the provision of both direct grant aid and soft support measures and to ensure that available funds are targeted to maximise entrepreneurial development. While the current climate surrounding public finances cannot be ignored, enterprise boards will be able to use their available funding in a judicious and effective manner so as to ensure that business growth and development will not suffer and that further employment creation opportunities are not missed.