Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 445: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the grants paid out by Mayo County Enterprise Board in each of the past three years and to date in 2006; and the grants currently available. [38979/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Mayo County Enterprise Board (CEB) was established in 1993 to provide support to small businesses with 10 employees or fewer. The Board's function is to develop indigenous enterprise potential and to stimulate economic activity at local level. The CEB supports individuals, firms, community groups, provided that the projects have the capacity to achieve commercial viability. Priority must be given to manufacturing and internationally traded services companies which could develop into strong export entities.

The specific types of CEB assistance available to micro-enterprise is broken down between financial assistance such as grants for feasibility studies, employment grants and capital grants and non-financial assistance such as Programmes covering Business Management, Mentoring, E-commerce, Enterprise Education and Women in Business networks. Full details on the activities of Mayo CEB are available in its Annual Reports which are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The general levels of available financial assistance are as follows:

Capital grants up to a maximum of 50% of the cost of capital and other investment or €75,000, whichever is the lesser; a portion of the grant in excess of 40%( in the BMW Region) or 35% (in the S&E Region) to be in refundable form.

Employment grants a grant of up €7,500 per new job, to a maximum of 10 new jobs.

Feasibility study grants up to a maximum of 60% (in the BMW Region) or 50% (in the S&E Region), of the cost of a feasibility study and business plan, subject to an overall limit of €6,350 (in the BMW Region) or €5,100 (in the S&E Region).

Details of the total amount of grants paid out by Mayo CEB in each of the past three years and to date in 2006 are in tabular form as follows.