Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 242: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of applications received by each county enterprise board for each of the past five years; the number of successful applications; the amount of grants allocated by each board; the number of employment places created; the plans she has to review the boards and the amount of funding available; if there will be a review of the maximum grant ceiling; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21243/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not have any role in determining which applications receive assistance from any of the thirty-five County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) and does not collect or retain information concerning the number of applications received by each CEB. Decisions on applications for assistance are made independently by the CEBs on the advice of their Evaluation Committees. In making recommendations to the Boards the Evaluation Committees are required to have regard to the quality, local relevance, cost effectiveness and viability of proposals as well as issues of deadweight and displacement. Information on the individual activities of the CEBs are available in their Annual Reports which are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas annually.

The information concerning the amounts of grants approved, the number of projects approved and the employment places created for the period 2003 to 2007 is attached in tabular format. The employment data is available on the yearly net increase or decrease in the number of full-time equivalent jobs created in CEB assisted companies. These figures are collated on an annual basis at year-end and accordingly 2008 figures are not yet available.

The specific types of formal 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 ("soft supports") such as Programmes covering Business Management, Mentoring, E-commerce, Enterprise Education and Women in Business networks. 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).

A fundamental review of the role and functions of the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) in the development of micro-enterprises, including the level of financial assistance which they have available to them, was conducted during 2004 on behalf of the Department by Fitzpatricks and Associates, Economic Consultants. The Review recommended that, in providing assistance to micro-enterprises, CEBs should focus more on economic, rather than social or local development, objectives; that there should be a renewed focus on the core enterprise mission; that the issues of potential deadweight, displacement and duplication should be more systematically and rigorously addressed and that there should be a move away from direct grant aid to repayable finance as well as a greater provision of soft supports as an alternative to grant aid. My Department continues to work with the CEBs and the newly established CEB Central Co-ordination Unit in respect of the reorientation of their focus in line with these recommendations. The forms of assistance, both financial and non-financial, available from the CEBs to their client base continues to be monitored in this context.