Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 121: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps he is taking to develop the county enterprise board investment programmes in the Border, midlands and western region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3810/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

There are 13 county and city enterprise boards operating in the Border midlands and western region. Under the BMW regional operational programme 2000-2006, these boards are responsible for delivering the micro-enterprise measure and, in this regard, continue to support, through both financial and non-financial measures, the development of micro-enterprises in the BMW region. The BMW region's Objective One status allows the use of comparatively better rates of incentives to business and assists the region in promoting and developing indigenous micro-enterprises. This status is also taken into account in allocating funds to the boards in the region. In 2005, for example, the funds allocated to the region amounted to some 37% of the total funds allocated even though only about 27% of the national population reside in the region.

The specific types of CEB assistance available to micro-enterprise is broken down between: measure one — project support expenditure, including grants for feasibility studies, employment grants and capital grants; and measure two — soft supports activities such as business advice, management and e-commerce training, enterprise education and programmes aimed as assisting and promoting women in business.

The function of the CEBs is to develop indigenous enterprise potential and to stimulate economic activity at local level. In providing support to enterprises, the CEBs are required to have regard to the quality, local relevance, cost effectiveness and viability of proposals. They must also seek to avoid supporting projects that would displace existing jobs or businesses. In this regard, the boards are required to give priority to manufacturing and internationally traded services companies, which over time may develop into strong export entities.

The CEBs in the BMW region performed strongly in 2005. They paid out more than €4 million in direct grant aid to 350 projects and assisted in creating more than 1,000 net jobs in grant-aided companies. The CEBs also provided training and management development programmes to the value of €3.4 million to 4,566 participants in the BMW area, of which 2,588 — almost 57% — were female. The local base of the CEBs which are responsible for the delivery of the micro-enterprise measure in the BMW region means that the projects supported are tailored to the particular needs of the local economic environment.

Overall the CEBs continue to play an extremely important role in the development of the micro-enterprise sector throughout Ireland and it is my intention that an appropriate level of support for the CEBs, in both the BMW region and the south and east region, will be made available again this year.