Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 October 2024
163. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which adequate incentives remain available to encourage the indigenous sector with particular reference to job creation enterprises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43869/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department’s White Paper on Enterprise to 2030 sets out an ambitious vision for Ireland’s enterprise policy to protect Ireland’s strong economic position. It provides for a sustainable, innovative and high-productivity economy, with rewarding jobs and livelihoods in the period ahead. My Department is fully committed to advancing the interests of SMEs in Ireland and the performance of our enterprise development agencies is key to our strategic objective of creating and maintaining high quality employment across all parts of our country.
Enterprise Ireland provides funding and other supports with the objective of increasing the potential employment and sales growth of businesses, supporting regional development, increasing the productivity and innovation in indigenous businesses, and increasing exports. Enterprise Ireland’s results for 2023 show the progress that it has made in supporting and driving the creation of new enterprises in the indigenous sector at a national and regional level. Employment in client companies of Enterprise Ireland increased to a total of 225,495 in 2023, the highest ever recorded. The total number of jobs created was 15,530. When job losses are considered, there was a positive net jobs result of 5,011 in a very challenging year for businesses.
Regional development is a key priority for this Government, and it is important that the value of collaboration and the work of the development agencies, which has yielded strong jobs results in recent years, is complemented by a bottom-up approach in providing critical business supports and advice. 68% of new jobs created in 2023 in companies supported by Enterprise Ireland were located outside the Dublin region. Eight out of nine regions recorded net jobs growth, with the West region (+5%), the North-East region (+5%) and the North-West region (+4%) performing particularly strongly.
The 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) play an extremely important role at local level, as part of a supportive ecosystem, providing their services to small businesses and promoting entrepreneurship within towns and communities across the country. They are the first stop shop for all businesses regardless of sector with over 370,000 small businesses eligible for some type of support from the LEOs.
The results of the 2023 Annual Employment Survey were extremely positive with LEO client companies creating 6,640 new jobs, which represents a 10th consecutive year of jobs growth since the LEOs were established in 2014 and indicated a net job increase in each of the 31 Local Authority areas. The figures show that the LEOs now have a portfolio of 7,167 small businesses that account for 38,726 jobs across the country. 82% of these jobs are provided by businesses outside of Dublin, which again reflects this Government’s ambitions for balanced regional development
Further to this, the National Enterprise Hub, which launched on 10th July last, brings together information and resources on over 230 government supports from 23 different Departments and state agencies which can be accessed through the new online hub or by speaking directly to an advisor by phone, email or via live chat.
