Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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142. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if the Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur competition will recommence following its suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic; if not, the reason (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56705/22]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to thank the Deputy for raising the matter of Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur competition, which ran successfully for 5 years between 2015 and 2019. In that time, over 600 young entrepreneurs received funding in excess of €8million, as well as a wide range of vital training and mentoring to support them on their entrepreneurial journeys. The investment fund in 2019 amounted to €1,650,000, comprised of €50k for investments by each of the 31 LEOs across three prize categories, with another €100,000 for investment at national level.

I would like to assure the Deputy that I and officials in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment are examining the future of the IBYE competition, which was suspended in recent years largely due to the onset of COVID-19 and the significant additional work asked of the LEO offices to support businesses through that crisis.

These discussions will also involve engaging with all the IBYE stakeholders including past winners of the competition to learn first-hand how their businesses have benefited from taking part in the competition.

The OECD has recently completed a report on inclusive entrepreneurship on behalf of the Department, and the findings of this report will also feed into future initiatives, including IBYE, to support young entrepreneurs in Ireland.

The network of Local Enterprise Offices continues to transform the environment for entrepreneurship, increasing participation and survival rates of start-ups and positioning Ireland as a location of choice to start and grow your own business.

In 2021 the Local Enterprise Offices approved 242 Priming Grants, which assist businesses in the first 18 months of start-up. The flagship Start Your Own Business programmes helped 5,854 aspiring entrepreneurs to develop their business ideas and assess their viability, helping them make informed decisions about whether, and how, to proceed. The Local Enterprise Offices also provided Mentoring assignments to over 14,000 individual business managers and owners.

Local Enterprise Offices support youth entrepreneurship through the Student Enterprise Programme which encourages and nurtures the next generation of business owners and leaders. 23,970 students from 427 secondary schools took part in the 2020/2021 Programme.

Enterprise Ireland also has a number of programmes to support entrepreneurs such as HPSU Feasibility, the New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development Programme, mentoring grants, Pre-seed start fund and the Competitive Start Fund.

Enterprise Ireland, through their LEO Centre of Excellence, are delivering the ‘Entrepreneurial Education Programmes’ to primary schools across Ireland, enriching the school curriculum by introducing entrepreneurial skills to primary school pupils from an early age.