Caoimhe Gordon - Irish Independent

Small businesses which are supported by Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) across the country created over 2,000 new jobs last year.

Overall, a total of 6,640 new roles were created last year by LEOs in 2023. This was up 6pc from figures reported by LEO client companies in 2022, with 82pc of the new created roles located outside of Dublin.

On a net basis, the number of jobs created by supported companies was 2,131 in 2023. Companies faced a number of specific challenges in the year, including maintaining existing staff and filling vacant roles.

Despite some employment challenges last year, LEOs recorded a tenth consecutive year of jobs growth since their inception in 2014.

New figures published today also reveal that the LEOs now financially support 7,167 client companies, with these businesses in turn employing a total of 38,726 people across the country.

This number is now higher than the 38,535 jobs that was the previous record set by LEO client companies in 2019.

“This Government is committed to backing business and will continue to work closely with small businesses, support their growth, help them to find new markets and to stimulate job growth and the Local Enterprise Offices have a key role to play here,” Minister of State Neale Richmond said.

Established a decade ago, Local Enterprise Offices are funded by Enterprise Ireland and provide a range of supports for entrepreneurs and small businesses, including financing, mentoring and training. There are 31 locations across Ireland.

“These figures are only a fraction of what is being achieved. While we financially support over 7,000 companies, we work closely with thousands more with our competitiveness and productivity supports, other supports like the Trading Online Voucher along with training and mentoring,” chair of the LEO network John Magee said.

“In many cases these interventions can be just as impactful for clients,” he added.