Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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405. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if there are grants available from agencies under his Department's aegis specifically for companies looking to increase the amount of sales and marketing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46413/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Anyone interested in starting or expanding their business should, in the first instance, contact their local County and City Enterprise Board (CEB). The CEBs support the indigenous micro-enterprise sector in the start-up and expansion phases and stimulate enterprise potential at local level. They are the first port of call in terms of advice, direction, training and, in certain circumstances, grant support for anyone who wishes to start or expand a business. Contact details for the CEBs are available on .

Work is well underway to transform the support infrastructure for small and micro businesses, which will see the CEBs as presently constituted, dissolved and re-formed as Local Enterprise Offices within Local Authorities, working under the direction and guidance of the new Enterprise Ireland Centre of Excellence. This will ensure that Ireland has an enhanced, seamless and benchmarked support and progression pathway for small and micro business. I am confident that this reform will bring about a new level of engagement and interaction at both national and local level in relation to enterprise support and economic recovery and growth, and will result in an enhanced, more consistent and coherent set of enterprise supports with positive effects in terms of start-up numbers and increased employment.

Enterprise Ireland (EI) offers a range of financial and non-financial supports to assist clients through all stages of the business development cycle. These include supports for job creation and where appropriate, capital investment. The main EI Grant offers available to client companies that are seeking to expand include the following:

- Going Global Grant - A grant for market research costs to assist companies that have successfully established businesses in Ireland who wish to explore opportunities to internationalise as a route to growth;

- Internationalisation Grant – A grant to support the costs of researching and exploring new international business opportunities;

- Job Expansion Fund - Funding towards the recruitment of new employees;

- Tailored Company Expansion Packages - support for companies who are planning to undertake an ambitious expansion that will create employment and grow sales in international markets. The nature of the package will be determined through discussions with Enterprise Ireland.

The specific nature and level of support offered to EI client companies depends on the individual company’s development needs and is assessed in consultation with their EI Development Adviser. Development Advisers work with companies to:

- discuss business development needs;

- provide impartial confidential advice on business plans;

- provide information on the wide range of financial and business development supports available from Enterprise Ireland;

- guide client companies through the application process for relevant supports;

- make companies aware of sectoral events and networks of relevance to their business.

Funding decisions are broadly determined by the need for financial support for the project; potential employment and sales growth; previous funding provided to the company and, the regional location of the company.

Companies who are not currently Enterprise Ireland clients, but who wish to contact the Agency, can do so via the “Get Export Ready” Helpdesk at: 01 7272829 or visit the website at: .