Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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In November the Government agreed to extend the mandate of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) to provide grant aid to firms in manufacturing and internationally traded services employing more than 10 but no more than 50 full time employees.

The extension of the mandate will ensure a continuation of support for enterprises that have grown to ten or more employees, as appropriate to their stage of development and international growth ambition. Working with the LEOs, Enterprise Ireland will ensure that companies of all sizes in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors are assisted on their development journey, maximising their growth and job creation potential.

The framework proposal has been developed by Enterprise Ireland, in consultation with the LEOs, and an additional capital allocation of €2million was secured in Budget 2023 to roll it out next year on a pilot basis.

The specific programmes that will be made available are

- Feasibility Grant

- Priming Grant

- Business Expansion Grant

- Technical Assistance for Micro Exporters Grant

- Green Start

- Lean Vouchers

- Digital Start Vouchers

The extension of the mandate will contribute to the Government’s target as set out in the recently published White Paper on Enterprise to add 2000 indigenous firms to the export base by 2030.

It is only in light of the evaluation of the pilot scheme that we can determine the impacts of the framework, including an estimation of the job creation potential of the initiative.

In terms of assessing economic impact, measures will include cost per sustained job; cost of new job; the ratio of increased export sales to LEO assistance; and productivity growth.