Fine Gael TD for Dun Laoghaire, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, has said that grants of €501,815 paid from the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) in 2014 are providing great support to local businesses in Dun Laoghaire. The Local Enterprise Offices are supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

“The new Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) were launched last year to deliver an improved system of local enterprise supports to start-ups and small businesses across the country.

“The LEOs provide a ‘first-stop-shop’ for all Government supports for small business in easily accessible locations across the country.

“The LEOs form part of the Government’s strategy to spread the recovery to all regions of the country. This comes alongside the Regional Action Plan for Jobs being launched by the Minister for Jobs, Richard Bruton.

“Previously some businesses were considered too large to access supports from City and County Enterprise Boards or as they were not exporting, they did not qualify for Enterprise Ireland supports and so fell between two stools. All categories of business are now benefitting from services provided by the LEOs.
“Fine Gael is committed to supporting small and medium businesses that are at the heart of rural communities. Fine Gael’s Standing Up for Small Business campaign engaged closely with small, local businesses while the Standing Up for Rural Ireland campaign which has just been launched, calls for continued investment in rural services, particularly broadband.

“The LEOs are a fantastic resource for sole traders, micro businesses and small and medium sized companies seeking information and support on starting or growing a business. The injection of€501,815 into local businesses in this area is a huge boost”.