ENTERPRISE Ireland EI will assume the powers of the Limerick City and County Enterprise Boards under new legislation that is to be published later this year.
Under the new legislation, all 35 of the country’s enterprise boards are to be dissolved with local authorities delivering the services on behalf of EI through local enterprise offices LEOs.
As part of the government’s reforms, the The County Enterprise Boards Dissolution Bill is aimed at streamlining support for micro- and small businesses, currently provided by the county enterprise boards, EI and local authorities, into one network.
The annual report from EI outlined that client companies had record exports of €16.2 billion and created 3,338 net jobs in 2012. The Mid West saw a net job creation of 216 jobs – a complete sea change after the region reported a net loss of over 80 jobs in the previous year.
However, the west of Ireland experienced the lowest level of job creation in the past year as net jobs created in the region, which includes counties Galway and Mayo, fell to 43 in 2012 compared with 394 in the previous year.
The largest number of jobs was created in the Dublin Mid-East region which added a net 1,510 new positions.
Incoming EI chairman Terence O’Rourke – who is a director of The Irish Times Ltd – also is the former managing partner of KPMG Ireland and will replace current chairman Hugh Cooney at the end of July.
