Since their establishment the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) have had primary responsibility for the delivery of State support to the indigenous micro-enterprise sector i.e. businesses which employ 10 or less workers. The CEBs, through both financial and non-financial assistance, support the sector in the start-up and expansion phases and stimulate enterprise potential at local level. The current priorities for the CEBs are to assist owner/managers in enhancing the survival and sustainability of their businesses in these difficult economic times and to assist people wishing to start their own business including those made redundant.
A thriving micro-enterprise sector is vital to a strong economy and to the overall quality of life and standard of living in this country and over the last fifteen years the CEBs have played a crucial role in supporting growth and productivity in that sector and in supporting the spread of entrepreneurship across the Country. I am of the view that State support for that sector should continue to be provided and such support should be delivered as close to the client as possible. To this end I am reviewing what institutional arrangements might best deliver the necessary supports to the micro-enterprise sector and I am evaluating the appropriateness of the current structures of the thirty-five CEBs as part of that process.
