Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Renua Ireland)
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132. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of local enterprise office supported jobs by county in 2014 and 2015 in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3757/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the ‘first-stop-shop’ State support service for micro and small businesses in each local area. They provide advice and direction, covering all government supports and requirements, to anyone who wishes to start a new business or expand an existing one.

The LEOs provide funding for projects primarily in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sector which over time have the potential to develop into strong export entities. There are three main categories of grant under which direct financial assistance is provided – Priming, Feasibility and Business Expansion. They also provide soft supports such as training and mentoring and the LEO staff can advise as to which supports would be most appropriate.

In 2014, based on the Annual Employment Survey of LEO clients, total direct employment among the 6,058 LEO client companies stood at 31,326 (full- and part-time), an increase of 4,012 jobs in the year. Details of LEO supported jobs by county in 2014 are shown in the following table.

Statistics in relation to the number of jobs created last year through support provided by the LEOs are currently being compiled as part of the 2015 Survey of client companies. Figures for 2015, including on an individual LEO basis, will be announced as soon as the results are available.

As well as existing businesses, the LEOs support entrepreneurs to start a new business; in 2015, 500 start-up companies were supported through the LEOs.

In addition, any business can use the LEOs to help them to access finance from Micro Finance Ireland (MFI). The LEOs can support enterprises through the MFI application, review and approval processes. In 2015, 207 applications with a total value of €3.2m and with 477 associated jobs, made via the LEOs, were approved by MFI.

In 2015, the Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition, which was run by the LEOs, attracted applications from 1,400 young entrepreneurs. The financial support provided to the 92 winners will lead to job creation in the future. Furthermore, by November 2015, some 1,500 businesses had completed, or were in the process of completing, their trading online projects under the Trading Online Voucher Scheme, which is also run by the LEOs.

LEO Employment 2014 - by NUTS III Region