Business Supports
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-28
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Alan Dillon (FG), Mayo

I thank the Deputy again for her question and response. The Minister and I chair the retail forum and the enterprise forum. We also co-chair the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, dealing with employers and employees. We try to gauge the feedback regarding where supports are required and how we can actually look at this, not just in the short term but also the long term, and the structural needs of many businesses. That is why, as I said earlier, the local enterprise office is the first port of call for somebody starting a new business but we do also identify there are many businesses that fall through the cracks and who are not being supported by the local enterprise office. We need to bring them in.
That is why Enterprise Ireland is looking at its own structures and trying to create a centre of excellence that will have more broad outreach to those businesses because they are Irish businesses creating vital employment in our local areas. Indeed, they may not want grants available through the local enterprise offices but it is a case of how we can support them in different ways, such as through mentoring and expert advice. Can they become the next company that has export potential? It is about building that leadership capability within those companies as well.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-28