Galway to benefit from new Local Enterprise Office

Galway will benefit from a new Local Enterprise Office (LEO), which is expected to be up and running from April, Fine Gael TD for Galway West, Seán Kyne said this week.

The new LEOs across the country, which will be embedded in the Local Authorities, will act as a one stop shop for the business supports currently delivered by County Enterprise Boards and by Local Authorities.

“The new system of LEOs will completely streamline the supports on offer to local businesses in Galway. The LEO in Galway will develop a plan for boosting local enterprise, setting targets for job creation and new business start-ups. This represents a radical overhaul of how supports are delivered, and will ensure that the system is local, targeted and effective.

“An extra €3.5 million is being allocated to support the new LEO structure this year. There will be 170 dedicated staff across 31 LEOs; these employees will receive specified training to ensure they can deliver services to local businesses in the best possible way”.

Small enterprises employ more than 650,000 people across the country and were responsible for many of the additional 58,000 new jobs created in the past year.

The new LEOs will not only enable Galway County Council and Galway City to strengthen their direct engagement with local businesses but will also enable business-owners and entrepreneurs to focus on growing their business.

Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Kyne noted: “Time spent on navigating regulatory frameworks, sourcing information and trustworthy advice, and pre paring documents for securing finance have been cited by many of local businesspeople as being of concern. 

“The more time businesspeople and entrepreneurs spend on albeit important administrative issues, the less time they have to develop and grow their businesses.  That in turn has a direct impact on employment. The creation of one point of contact as envisaged in the Bill will without doubt provide entrepreneurs and owners of existing local businesses with more time to focus on their own business.”

Deputy Kyne added that with the diversity of Galway in terms of urban, rural, suburban, island and Gaeltacht areas, it would be crucial that Galway’s Local Enterprise Office be well positioned to meet the various needs of each area.

“There is major scope here for the local enterprise offices, LEOs, in conjunction with Údarás na Gaeltachta, to work together and provide the best possible supports to our local businesses and entrepreneurs to facilitate job creation,” concluded Deputy Kyne.