Written answers
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation
Enterprise Stabilisation Fund
9:00 am
Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 145: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the number of companies in counties Cavan and Monaghan that have applied to date for assistance under the â¬100 million stabilisation fund; the number of applications accepted; the amount per county awarded to date; if he will have sufficient funds to cover the applications received or the â¬22 million cut in this fund will affect the benefits that were originally expected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20465/10]
Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Enterprise Stabilisation Fund (ESF) was established by Government in 2009 as a 2-year scheme to support viable but vulnerable exporting companies experiencing difficulties because of the current economic climate. Over the lifetime of the scheme to date, 4 Cavan companies have been approved for support amounting to â¬1,450,000 with the result that 356 jobs have been sustained in that County. There have been no approvals for companies in Monaghan to date.
At 30 April 2010, a total of 227 applications had been reviewed and 197 projects from 193 companies had been approved â¬72m under the ESF, of which â¬64m has been paid out to date. The total number of jobs sustained as a result of this funding in 2009 was in the region of 7,500.
The economic environment in which we are operating is evolving daily and the supports which government make available for company supports must change to reflect current priorities. It is in this context that the overall funding allocated to Enterprise Ireland for company supports in 2010 amounts to â¬278m, which represents an overall 26% increase on the outturn for 2009.
While a smaller portion of this funding is being allocated to the ESF, the overall increase is a reflection of the Government's commitment to supporting enterprise and the re-prioritisation of funding across the range of Enterprise Ireland programmes is taking account of the recovery phase which the Irish economy is now entering.
To put this re-prioritisation of funding in context, all companies applying under the ESF are assessed to ascertain whether the Fund is a suitable support for them, in the event that it is not, then the company is re-directed to the most appropriate funding mechanism from EI's other suite of funding supports.
The companies that Enterprise Ireland is now assisting includes those that are still vulnerable but just as importantly, those that have shown their potential for high growth and increased export sales. This balance between supporting those companies which are still vulnerable and those, which are ready to grow, is the key to stabilising the position of some companies while facilitating others taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the recovery in global markets.
Allocations to particular schemes are kept under constant review and adjusted to meet our economic needs at any given point in time.
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