Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

294. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the total funding provided by Enterprise Ireland to the Dublin Business Innovation Centre for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17421/14]

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

The Business Innovation Centres (BIC’s) are independent companies limited by guarantee and led by Boards whose members are mainly from the private sector. There are four BIC’s located throughout the country as follows – Dublin BIC, Cork BIC, South East BIC based in Waterford and West BIC based in Galway.

The BICs were established in 1988 as a European Union initiative and until the end of 1999 the BICs were funded by the EU. Since 2000, EU funding was replaced by Government Exchequer funding, which is channelled through and managed by Enterprise Ireland (EI).

The four BIC’s currently receive combined core funding of €2.2m per annum. The core funding is divided on a population basis between:

- Dublin BIC,

- Cork BIC, covering the South West region of Ireland.

- West BIC which covers the Border, Midland and Western regions of Ireland primarily serving counties Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, and Donegal.

- South East BIC providing services in Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford and South Tipperary.

Table 1 outlines the total Grant Payments to Dublin BIC from 2011 to 2013.

Table 1