Enterprise Ireland says figures were incorrect

ENTERPRISE IRELAND has said that figures presented to a Dáil committee on Thursday were incorrect.

The Dáil Committee of Public Accounts had heard that in 2008 Enterprise Ireland, an organisation responsible for growing Irish businesses abroad, had spent two-thirds of its budget on administration and only a third on industry grants.

Examining the comptroller and auditor general’s report on spending by the Department of Enterprise, the committee was told that the development body had a budget of €160 million in 2008. Of this figure, it was said that €100 million was spent on administration and general expenses, while just over €56 million was spent on grants to industry.

In the course of the meeting, which was attended by the secretary general of the department Seán Gorman, Fianna Fáil deputy Seán Fleming described the figures as “utterly alarming”.

Mr Fleming had asked Mr Gorman if there was a chance they might have “another bit of a Fás”.

Yesterday, Enterprise Ireland issued a statement saying the figures presented at the meeting were incorrect. It said Enterprise Ireland’s total budget for 2008 was €376 million and that 70 per cent of it, or €264 million, was spent on company supports, while the agency’s operating costs for the year at €112 million were one-third of the overall budget.

A spokesman for Enterprise Ireland said the agency only realised the figures discussed at the meeting were incorrect when it saw them reported in the media.

“The figures presented were taken from our annual report. However, some of our spend on industry supports is listed outside of this report.”