Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

266. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the supports his Department is currently offering to small and medium enterprises in particular accessing capital to expand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16688/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The main sources of direct support to small and medium enterprises, delivered through my Department, are Enterprise Ireland and the City and County Enterprise Boards (CEBs).

Anyone interested in starting their own 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 grant support for anyone who wishes to start a business. Contact details for the CEBs are available on .

The Deputy may wish to note that the system for delivery of State supports to micro and small enterprises is being reformed and that the 35 existing County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) will be dissolved and new Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) will be created. 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. The CEBs will be legally dissolved and the LEOs will come into being from 15 April 2014. When established, the LEOs will become the first-stop-shop through which information on national and local supports for business can be accessed, where new start-up and micro-enterprises can be grant-aided, where small businesses can receive training and mentoring, and where businesses with clear high growth potential can be fast-tracked to the next level of support from Enterprise Ireland.

Entrepreneurs can access a range of pre-investment supports from Enterprise Ireland which enable them to investigate the viability and potential of a business idea and to help accelerate their business development. These supports are accessible to entrepreneurs who come forward with strong innovative business ideas.

When companies have reached the stage where they are investor ready, they can access Competitive Start Fund Funding which is awarded through a competitive call for applications, or Enterprise Ireland’s “High Potential Start Up” offer which provides equity investment to support the implementation of company business plans.

In addition to taking direct equity stakes in companies, the State through, Enterprise Ireland has invested heavily in stimulating and facilitating Business Angel investment through the Business Angel HALO programme and in providing access to finance for new and established enterprises through the Seed & Venture Capital Schemes, the Development Capital Schemes and Innovation Fund Ireland. Further information on supports available from Enterprise Ireland can be obtained on the Agency’s website .

In order to deal with specific market failures, my Department introduced two targeted schemes in 2012 to support an additional flow of credit into the economy, namely the Microenterprise Loan Fund Scheme – for microenterprises with less than ten employees - and the SME Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) to positively impact on job creation, retention and sustainability. Both are available to the locally traded sectors, in view of their crucial role in job creation.

The CGS, in particular, supports SMEs who, because of lack of collateral or because of an inadequacy of understanding of the novelty of a business model, market, sector or technology, face difficulties in accessing traditional bank credit. Commercially viable, well-performing micro, small and medium enterprises that have a solid business plan and a defined market for their products or services, and can demonstrate their ability to repay the loan are the target of this scheme. The CGS provides a 75% guarantee for eligible loans to eligible SMEs between €10,000 and €1m.