€2m Funding for Micro-enterprises Across Ireland
29th July 2016
Today the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor, T.D., and Minister of State for Employment & Small Business Pat Breen announced details of a further allocation of €1.85 million in Capital funding that is being made available to 15 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) to assist micro-enterprises in creating local jobs.
This funding is being made available to those LEOs that have identified a pipeline of demand for financial assistance for projects that can be initiated this year. The 15 LEOs are: Cavan, Clare, Cork North/West, Cork South, Dublin City, Dublin South, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown, Fingal, Kilkenny, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Sligo, Tipperary, and Westmeath.
The funding will be available for use by the LEOs to provide direct Capital grant assistance to micro-enterprises within their County. These supports are aimed at assisting entrepreneurs to start-up or expand their business. It is expected that the funding will assist micro-enterprises to create or sustain over 300 jobs across the country. The LEOs support some 6,500 client micro-enterprises across the country and last year created over 7,100 new full and part-time jobs.
When making the announcement Minister Mitchell O’Connor said “Since their establishment in April 2014, the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) have been facing increased demand for their services as the economy recovers. I am pleased to be able to enable the LEOs to cater for identified demand by adjusting the allocation of the Capital funding available for local enterprise development this year. This re-allocation of €1.85 million in local enterprise development Capital funding will help the LEOs to support micro-enterprises to create or sustain over 300 jobs in LEOs across the country.”
I would encourage all micro and small business owners to engage with the LEO for their area, even if they don’t currently need financial support; I think they would be surprised at the quality and usefulness of the supports that would be made available to them.”
