Written answers

Tuesday, 17 October 2006

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

County Enterprise Boards

7:00 pm

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 411: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the grant aid and support available to people (details supplied) who want to set up their own business. [32806/06]

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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People in Ireland who wish to establish their own business are facilitated in doing so through the promotion by the Government of an economic environment that is supportive of entrepreneurial activity combined with a wide range of targeted interventions by various State enterprise development agencies. There are, in the first instance, thirty-five City and County Enterprise Boards (CEBs) throughout the Country whose role is to provide a source of support for micro-enterprise in the start-up and expansion phases, to promote and develop indigenous micro-enterprise potential and to stimulate economic activity and entrepreneurship at local level.

The criteria under which financial assistance is available from the CEBs is based primarily on factors such as the sector of the economy in which an enterprise is operating or intends to operate and the size or proposed size of the enterprise. The CEBs can assist in the establishment and/or development of new and existing enterprises by individuals, companies and community groups subject to the following eligibility criteria;

the enterprise must be in the commercial sphere;

the enterprise must demonstrate a market for the product/service;

the enterprise must have a capacity for growth and new job creation;

the enterprise must not employ more than 10 people;

The Boards are required to give priority to enterprises in the manufacturing or internationally traded services sector which over time can develop into strong export entities and graduate to the Enterprise Ireland Portfolio. It is considered inappropriate to support other areas such as retail enterprises, personal services (e.g. hairdressers, gardeners, etc), professional services (accountants, solicitors, etc), construction, as it is considered that these enterprises generally give rise to unacceptable deadweight (where projects would have proceeded anyway) and/or displacement (where the projects simply displace business from other players in the market) concerns.

However, there is some latitude available to the Boards in respect of support for enterprises promoted by the unemployed, those recently made redundant and women re-entering the workforce provided that those enterprises do not give rise to concerns about deadweight or displacement.

In addition, the CEBs provide a range of non-financial assistance on a more general basis, including for example, management training programmes and access to the "Women in Business" networks that support the development of female entrepreneurs in the local CEB area by providing a forum for knowledge and experience sharing and valuable networking activities.

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