Praise for enterprise boards’ job creation record

THE County Enterprise Boards have helped create close to 27,000 full-time and almost 4,000 part-time jobs across the country over the past decade, Defence Minister, Michael Smith, said yesterday.

Such an achievement is often overlooked, as they often employ ten or less people, the minister said as he presented the seventh National Enterprise Awards at a reception in Portlaoise, Co Laois.

The enterprise boards have also delivered strong value-for-money as the cost to the State of each job created has averaged less than 6,350. They were set up at a time when tackling unemployment was a huge issue for Irish society, with many of those on the live register having been out of work for prolonged periods.