James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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692. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the persons who sat on the evaluation panel that assessed applications for the community enterprise initiative; the persons who chose the panel; the date the appointments were made; the persons who made the initial decision to expand the scheme beyond community enterprise centres; if applications were accepted from organisations that did not meet the applying criteria on the closing date of 10 July 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34450/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Announced in February 2015 as part of the Government’s Regional Action Plan for Jobs, the Community Enterprise Initiative Scheme is part of the Government’s €250 million regional strategy aimed at accelerating jobs recovery in every part of the country.

In line with the Government’s regional strategy, the primary objective of the Community Enterprise Initiative is to support public, private and community organisations to create new collaborative projects to stimulate and support enterprise and job creation at local, community and regional level. The competitive call for applications was open to new and existing organisations, groups and alliances, who could collaboratively seek to promote entrepreneurship, create jobs, foster innovation and enhance export opportunities for small business.

The Community Enterprise Initiative Scheme was administered by Enterprise Ireland. The details of the scheme – eligibility, objectives and evaluation criteria - were stated in the Scheme’s Reference Document published on Enterprise Ireland’s website.

Enterprise Ireland appointed the members of the evaluation panel for this Scheme based on required expertise. The evaluation panel was comprised of one Enterprise Ireland representative, one representative from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, three representatives from the private sector and an independent evaluator / facilitator. Under data protection, Enterprise Ireland is not in a position to release the names of the persons on the evaluation panel.

The Community Enterprise Initiative Scheme closed on 4 September 2015, after an extension to the closing date (original closing date 10 July 2016). In line with the Scheme Reference Document, applications were accepted from applicants who met pre-stated eligibility criteria.