Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the progress to date in the determination of entitlement to a new enterprise priming grant in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36448/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The role of my Department is to drive Ireland's competitiveness and productivity by creating the conditions where enterprise, entrepreneurship and innovation can flourish and quality employment opportunities are grown and maintained. Funding is provided to a number of State Agencies under its aegis including that of the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs), through whom assistance is delivered directly to businesses.

The role of the CEBs is to develop indigenous potential and stimulate economic activity at a local level primarily through the provision of financial and technical support for the development of small and micro-enterprises. The Boards form a nationwide support network for small business and are considered to be a first point of contact for persons wishing to set up in business.

While my Department provides funding to the CEBs neither I or my Department officials have any role or function in the day-to-day decision making activities of the Boards. The CEBs are independent companies, limited by guarantee and therefore legal entities in their own right. Decisions on applications for assistance from the CEBs are made independently by the Boards, subject to eligibility criteria, on the advice of their evaluation committees.

Any enquiry relating to individual CEB applications should therefore be made in the first instance to the relevant CEB. The CEB in Kildare may be contacted at: Kildare County Enterprise Board, The Woods, Clane, Co. Kildare; Phone No: 045 861707; Fax No: 045 861712; Email: info@kildareceb.ie; Website: wwww.kildareceb.ie.

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 108: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding a grant for a new business in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36480/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department does not provide direct funding or grants to businesses but provides funding to a number of State Agencies, including the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) and Enterprise Ireland, through whom assistance is delivered directly to businesses. The role of the CEBs throughout the country 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 CEBs' unique role positions them as a first point of contact for persons wishing to set up in business. The Boards give priority to manufacturing and internationally traded services, and support micro-enterprise businesses provided that the proposed projects have the capacity to achieve commercial viability. CEBs can assist in the establishment, and/or development, of new and existing micro-enterprise businesses subject to the following main 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 enterprise must not give rise to deadweight or displacement.

It is considered inappropriate to support areas such as retail enterprises, personal services (e.g. hairdressers, gardeners, etc), professional services (accountants, solicitors, etc) lacking export potential, construction, etc, as it is considered that these 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.

CEBs can provide both financial and non-financial assistance to a project promoter. The forms of financial assistance, which are available, subject to certain restrictions and conditions, include Priming Grants, Business Expansion/Development Grants, and Feasibility/Innovation Grants. The provision of non-financial assistance can take the form of a wide range of business advice and information services, management capability training and development programmes, e-Commerce training initiatives etc. The project promoter should therefore in the first instance contact their local CEB to discuss what options may be available to her. Contact details for each of the Boards is available through their national website www.enterpriseboards.ie. Meath CEB may be contacted directly at Meath County Enterprise Board, Navan Enterprise Centre, Trim Road, Navan, Co. Meath, tel. 046-9078400, email mhceb@meath.com, website www.meath.com.

In addition to the supports and services of the state agencies under the aegis of my Department, the promoter may also wish to be made aware that the Department of Social Protection also provides assistance through various Back to Work (Enterprise) Schemes and an Employer (PRSI) Incentive Scheme. In addition and subject to certain eligibility criteria, persons returning to the workplace (having been unemployed for over a year) may be able to avail of Revenue's Job Assist. In this regard, the promoter may wish to contact the Departments of Social Protection at www.welfare.ie and Revenue at www.revenue.ie for further information.