960. Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the steps being taken to ensure that rural enterprises and businesses in County Wexford remain funded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54880/26]

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), based in each of the 31 Local Authorities, play an extremely important role at local level, as part of a supportive ecosystem.

The Wexford LEO, based in Carricklawn, provides advice to small businesses in County Wexford in relation to government supports available to them and can provide information/referrals to other relevant bodies under agreed protocols e.g. Revenue, Micro Finance Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, LEADER, and Enterprise Ireland.

LEOs offer direct grant assistance to small businesses, with priority given to enterprises in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors who have the potential to develop into exporting entities and graduate to Enterprise Ireland’s portfolio.

LEOs can also provide consultancy and grants to small businesses across all sectors in the areas of LEAN, Green and Digital, assisting businesses to digitalise, decarbonise and streamline their operations. These supports help small businesses to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

In addition to this, LEOs offer business capability training and mentoring programmes, which are administered by experts to aid small business owners with their business journey.

Micro-finance Ireland (MFI), which is a not-for-profit lender that offers small business for commercially viable proposals. MFI loans can be used to help fund start-up costs, working capital or business expansion and by applying through their Local Enterprise Office, clients can avail of a 1% reduction in the interest rate charged. These loans are available to any business (Sole Trader, Partnership or Limited Company) with less than 10 employees subject to certain eligibility criteria.

Finally, Enterprise Ireland works to ensure that businesses in County Wexford can access both funding and development supports. This includes support through the South-East Regional Enterprise Plan, the New Frontiers entrepreneur development programme and Enterprise Ireland's Smart Regions Enterprise Innovation Scheme. Recent investments supported by Enterprise Ireland include Catalyst HQ, a new innovation and enterprise hub for the South-East, and the B.A.S.S.E. business accelerator programme, both of which will provide funding-linked growth, innovation and scaling opportunities for enterprises across Wexford and the wider region. Enterprise Ireland has also supported a number of Wexford-based start-ups through its High Potential Start-Up programme.