Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

126. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of local enterprise office jobs created per county in 2017, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22777/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the ‘first-stop-shop’ for providing advice and guidance, financial assistance and ‘soft’ supports in the form of training and mentoring to anyone wishing to start or grow a business.

The LEOs provide a ‘signposting’ service in relation to all relevant state supports available through agencies such as Revenue, the Department of Social Protection, Education and Training Boards, the Credit Review Office and Microfinance Ireland. The LEOs also offer advice and guidance in areas such as local authority rates, public procurement and other regulations affecting business.

Subject to certain eligibility criteria, the LEOs provide financial assistance to microenterprises (10 employees or fewer) in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sector which, over time, have the potential to develop into strong export entities.

Details of the number of new full- and part-time jobs created in gross terms amongst LEO supported companies in 2017 are set out in the following table.