Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
146. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the reforms his Department is planning in relation to local enterprise offices; if he will outline any upcoming adjustments to their remit, structure, or supports available to SMEs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30504/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) play an extremely important role at local level, as part of a supportive ecosystem, providing their services direct to small businesses and promoting entrepreneurship within towns and communities across the country.
My Department works closely with Enterprise Ireland (EI) to provide policy direction, oversight and monitor the performance of the 31 LEOs, ensuring they are properly resourced to help small businesses.
My Department and EI are working together to improve the delivery of services and schemes to enhance Ireland’s enterprise ecosystem.
In recent years, my Department has introduced several enhancements to the delivery of Local Enterprise Offices services and supports. LEOs now deliver supports spanning digitalisation, sustainability, innovation, productivity, and capability-building. The expansion of eligibility in 2023, to include firms with up to 50 employees in manufacturing and internationally traded services and to support locally traded services of the same size has transformed the LEOs into a comprehensive enterprise development service.
The LEO Policy Statement 2024 – 2030 sets out the role of the LEO network and outlines how the future direction of the LEOs to give effect to the relevant areas in the White Paper on Enterprise within their remit. The Policy statement also outlines how the LEOs will work in collaboration with their Local Authority colleagues to carry out the local economic development and business support functions of Local Authorities.
The LEO client base has grown in size, diversity and complexity, resulting in the LEO’s becoming central actors within Ireland’s broader enterprise ecosystem. To ensure that the LEOs continue to support businesses and reduce administrative burdens, my Department undertook a review of applications for all LEO grant schemes to reduce the number of questions and simplify requirements, resulting in reductions ranging from 8% to 47%, across all applications.
Finally, my Department, at the request of the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, has commissioned a review of the full suite of LEO supports. The study aims to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and coherence of the LEO supports and to provide evidence to inform future enterprise policy and programme delivery enhancements.
