Major funding boost to help create jobs in local areas

A FURTHER allocation of €100,000 is being made available to the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and Dublin South, to assist micro-enterprises in creating jobs.

A total of €55,000 will be provided to the South Dublin LEO and €45,000 to the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown LEO.

The funding is being made available to these LEOs as they have clearly identified a pipeline of demand for financial assistance for projects in the local area.

The projects due to receive the funding are either new micro-enterprises or existing small businesses seeking to expand.

Nationwide, the LEOs support approximately 6,500 client micro-enterprises and created over 7,100 new full and part-time jobs in 2015.

The Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, Shane Ross (Ind) welcomed the announcement and urged all small business owners to engage with their Local Enterprise Office, whether currently in need of funding or not.

“They provide an excellent support for entrepreneurs in our local community,” he said. “This additional funding will be vital for several micro-enterprises in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and Dublin South area and will provide them with the assistance they need to realise their business plans.

“These new businesses will add to the local economy and will create jobs. One of the priorities in the Programme for Government is to assist local businesses in accessing funds to start or grow their business and I am delighted that today’s announcement will be able to do that for many in our area.”

Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor (FG) also welcomed the announcement, stating that funding will be available for use by LEO Dun Laoghaire Rathdown to provide direct capital grant assistance to micro-enterprises.

“These supports are aimed at assisting enterprises to start-up or expand their business,” Deputy Mitchell said. “It is expected that the funding will assist micro-enterprises to create or sustain jobs across the Dun Laoghaire area. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown LEO supports almost 229 clients which last year created 164 new full and part-time jobs.”