Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plan he has to encourage youth entrepreneurship; if the Government has any plans to set up a youth entrepreneurship fund; if he sees the benefits in encouraging grant supports outside the areas of manufacturing and export; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51723/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government established the Microfinance Loan Fund on 27 September 2012 to improve access to credit for entrepreneurs and micro-enterprises and to facilitate the growth and expansion of viable businesses from all industry sectors which have been refused access to credit by banks. The Fund has a significant entrepreneurship focus. It will add value to other Government schemes of support for entrepreneurs and unemployed persons, such as the Back to Work Allowance, the range of training programmes and the Seed Capital Scheme.

The Fund will provide support in the form of loans of up to €25,000, available to start-up, newly established, or growing microenterprises employing less than 10 people, with viable business propositions, that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by banks.

Microfinance Ireland (MFI), the company set up to operate the Fund, will work closely with the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) / Local Enterprise Offices which provide assistance with training and preparing business plans for entrepreneurs. They will carry out an initial evaluation of the quality of business proposals/loan applications from entrepreneurs before sending same on to MFI for decision. The addition of microfinance will now enable the CEBs to deliver a wider suite of services to all entrepreneurs, namely grants, mentoring, soft supports and access to loan finance.

MFI and the CEBs are very conscious of the particular difficulties the youth sector faces with regard to credit history, previous business experience etc. and where they can assist young entrepreneurs, they will. However, the potential viability of the business proposal is the dominant factor in any credit decision made by Microfinance Ireland.

In addition to MFI and the CEBs, other sources of funding are available for example, the Seed Capital Scheme, business angels and E.I.I.S. While access to start-up finance through the various channels outlined is important to support youth entrepreneurship, other policy actions are equally important such as fostering entrepreneurship in students while at school or in third level education. Over 20,000 students now participate annually in the various CEB–supported programmes implemented in the education sector.

The Government continues to monitor the requirements of all business sectors regarding access to finance and in that context will continue to assess the needs of youth entrepreneurs in the light of the operation of the Microfinance Loan Fund and the availability of support from sources such as the EU, EIB and IMF. If there is a clearly identified need for a further targeted initiative to address market failure in this sector the matter will be addressed by relevant Departments.