Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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412. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department is currently planning to extend further start-up supports to non-manufacturing and non-export businesses. [17177/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Small businesses are at the heart of every town, village, and region in Ireland, providing employment, fostering innovation, and contributing significantly to economic growth. The Government is committed to supporting small businesses and the Programme for Government places a strong emphasis on measures that we will take to support SMEs.

Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), located within the 31 Local Authorities, are the first stop shop for local businesses in Ireland. The LEOs promote entrepreneurship, foster business start-ups and develop existing small businesses to drive job creation and to provide accessible high quality supports for small businesses within their Local Authority areas.

The LEOs provide business advice, training and mentoring supports to anyone looking to start a business, including the Start Your Own Business (SYOB) programme, which guides clients through the various aspects of business and business planning. The objective of the SYOB is to assist clients in honestly assessing their business idea, its viability and help them decide if they should proceed or take a step back.

LEOs offer direct financial grant assistance (Measure 1) to small businesses, with priority given to enterprises in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors who have the potential to develop into exporting entities and graduate to Enterprise Ireland’s portfolio.

LEO Measure 1 grants includes Priming Grants, Feasibility Study Grants, and Business Expansion Grants.

LEO Measure 1 grants are not available to domestically trading areas such as retail, personal services, professional services or construction as this can result in what is known as deadweight, where the project would have proceeded without intervention, or displacement, where interventions would displace other competitors in the market.

However, LEOs also provide a wide range of high-quality business and management development programmes that are tailored to meet specific business requirements.

LEOs can provide consultancy and grants to small businesses of all sectors, in the areas of Green, Digital and Lean. These grants are focused on providing capital to assist in implementation of recommendations to digitalise or decarbonise a business. These grants will also enhance the productivity and improve the competitiveness of small businesses.

The LEO Mentor Programme is a service available to both new and existing businesses and matches up the knowledge, skills, insights, and entrepreneurial capability of experienced business practitioners with small business owner/ managers who need practical and strategic one to one advice and guidance. Mentors aim to assist new and existing entrepreneurs in navigating the potential pitfalls of starting and growing a small enterprise in Ireland and can offer invaluable experience and guidance to business owners to help them on their journey.

LEO Mentors can also assist businesses owners with applications to Micro-finance Ireland (MFI), which is a not-for-profit lender that offers small business for commercially viable proposals. MFI loans can be used to help fund start-up costs, working capital or business expansion and by applying through their Local Enterprise Office, clients can avail of a 1% reduction in the interest rate charged. These loans are available to any business (Sole Trader, Partnership or Limited Company) with less than 10 employees subject to certain eligibility criteria. The lending limit for MFI loans was increased in 2024, bringing the maximum loan available up to €50,000.

I would recommend that any small business owner to contact their Local Enterprise Office and ask to speak to a Business Advisor.

I also encourage any business owners looking to avail of government support to consult the National Enterprise Hub (NEH). The NEH is an all-of-government free service, staffed by expertly trained advisors and is focused on helping business owners access a range of government supports.

Designed as an entry point to aid business owners find relevant supports and help for their business, the NEH brings together information and resources on over 250 government supports from 29 different departments and state agencies. This free service makes it easier for business owners to access and avail of a range of supports.