Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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401. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the supports that are being offered to small businesses to promote local economic growth and job creation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3604/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to backing businesses and will continue to work closely with small businesses to support their growth, help them to find new markets, create jobs and take on the twin challenges of decarbonisation and digitalisation.

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), located within each of the 31 Local Authorities, play an extremely important role at local level, as part of a supportive ecosystem, providing their services to small businesses, promoting entrepreneurship and contributing to jobs growth within towns and communities across the county. The LEO provides a signposting service for all government supports available to small businesses and can provide information/referrals to other relevant bodies.

The LEO Policy Statement 2024 – 2030 captures the current level of activity of LEOs nationwide and outlines an agreed approach on how their work will adapt to contribute to the implementation of five of the priorities of the White Paper on Enterprise – decarbonisation, digitalisation, increasing exporters, enabling the locally traded sector to thrive, and stepping up enterprise innovation.

The 2024 Annual Employment Survey of LEO clients has once again shown positive job creation across most of the Local Enterprise Offices. LEO supported companies created 7,104 new jobs in 2024 which represents a 7% increase in employment from 2023. There was a net employment gain of 2,459 for the year and 81% of the new jobs created in 2024 were located outside of Dublin. This shows again how vital the LEOs are to the development of our indigenous enterprises and is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the staff of the 31 Local Enterprise Offices.

The figures accounted for in these results are only LEO clients that have received direct financial grant assistance from their LEO and does not include the number of small businesses and associated jobs that have received training, mentoring or other supports such as the Grow Digital Voucher, Green for Business, Lean for Business, Digital for Business and Energy Efficiency Grants (EEG).

The National Enterprise Hub (NEH) which provides a centralised signposting service for over 230 Government supports. This excellent resource is available to all small business owners and can provide information and a point of contact to relevant government bodies.