John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

The matter I wish to raise concerns community enterprise centres. For many years they performed valuable work in their communities but many of them are now struggling to meet their costs and in keeping their facilities open. It is important the Government has some plan in place to support them.

From time to time Members get hung up — rightly so — about large employers in regions such as the Quinn Group. While I sympathise with and support Senator Wilson's sentiments about the Quinn Insurance workers, as raised in the last Adjournment Matter, it must be remembered that community enterprise centres provide as many jobs as that company does, albeit spread across the Twenty-six Counties. Up to 4,300 people are employed in up to 1,500 enterprises which are supported and housed in community enterprise centres, with over 13,000 jobs created in the past 15 years by businesses based in such centres. These centres are often a focal point for local businesses, ranging in size from large ones based in urban areas to smaller ones based in villages. They perform a valuable social role in provincial Ireland. Their facilities are often used by State agencies such as FÁS to provide training schemes in individual areas.

A recently commissioned report by the National Association of Community Enterprise Centres, Review of the Operation of Community Enterprise Centres 2010, highlights how occupany rates in community enterprise centres have fallen dramatically in the past two years. In February 2008, 56% of centres had a 90% occupany rate, which had dropped considerably to 22% two years later, a fall-off symptomatic of our current economic difficulties.

The report also found that only 50% of centres surveyed had received an operational subsidy from a State agency, while only 21% were in receipt of Enterprise Ireland operational grants, a surprisingly low figure. There seems to be no consistency in regulation of the sector between the various county enterprise board areas.

The report outlined a series of suggestions as to how the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation might help the centres through their difficulties. I hope the Minister of State will have some positive news in this regard.

Following the European Parliament election campaign, I am familiar with the work of the Arklow Business Enterprise Centre, in a town ravaged more than most by unemployment in the past two years. It is trying its best to provide a unique facility for start-up businesses in that employment black spot. Will the Government support this valuable indigenous sector? The small and medium-sized enterprise sector and indigenous industry will be pivotal in our economic recovery and getting us out of the mess in which we find ourselves.