Address by Mr. Tom Kitt, T.D., Minister for Labour,Trade and Consumer Affairs, at the Inner City Enterprise (ICE) Awards, 2001 on 29th January 2001, at 9pm Berkeley Court Hotel, Dublin

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m very pleased to have this opportunity to speak at the 3rd Inner City Enterprise Awards. As a Minister in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment the topics of enterprise developments and job creation are very close to my heart as indeed they are to all those concerned with the socio economic future of Ireland.

And as you are all aware micro enterprises such as the business that you are running make up the backbone of our thriving dynamic economy.

Undoubtably, ICE’s major achievement has been in maximising the potential of unemployed people in Dublin’s inner city to establish their own commercially viable business, thereby creating their own job and generating jobs for others.

ICE has provided help in the form of intensive hands on business advice and support and has also provided Business Advisers, Marketing Grants, Loans and Rent Subsidies.

One cannot help but be impressed by the success of the ICE’s dynamic organisation. Over the past 8 years, ICE has dealt with: 1,600 enquiries, has established 650 new businesses and has assisted in creating over 850 new jobs, at an overall cost of £2,000 per job. It’s worth noting that each job has saved the Exchequer up to £5,000, the approximate cost of being on Social Welfare.

However, as a response to the current economic climate, whilst still retaining its commercial ethos, ICE will also be providing comprehensive enterprise supports, to particularly marginalised groupings such as Ex-Offenders, eligible Refugees and Asylum Seekers, People with Disabilities and People recovering from addictions. This approach is also in line with the current thinking of the Area Based Partnerships, being funded under the National Development Plan.

In commending the work of ICE, I’d like to focus on 5 specific elements.

1. ICE is entirely voluntary organisation. I think one should pay tribute to the fact that both the Board of ICE and the panel of Business Advisers give of their time on a voluntary basis because they are entirely committed to concepts expounded by ICE.
2. ICE is unique insofar as it is the only enterprise development agency of its kind that is a public/private partnership equally funded by both sectors. ICE owes a big debt of gratitude to all its donors including FÁS and the Dublin Inner City Partnership.
3. What makes ICE different to other existing agencies is that it proactively works from the onset, on an individual hands-on basis with promoters of new ideas. A basic concept is the only requirement to avail of the ICE service.
4. Once an ICE client reaches the Business Planning stage, ICE doesn’t cut the ‘umbilical cord’ but continues to provide hands-on business support for 3 years.
5. ICE is also consistently making an ongoing contribution to the local enterprise culture in the inner city. Over the years, ICE has sought to highlight the role and value of new enterprise development at a local level.

Eight years ago, there was virtually no enterprise supports in Dublin’s inner city which could be approached by long-term unemployed people. Many were cynical about the possibility of enterprise support providing any useful benefits to the unemployed. However, as a consequence of ICE’s grassroots involvement at local level and its user-friendly approach, their organisation is now viewed as an extremely credible and most effective enterprise option.

In conclusion, I’d like to offer my congratulations, not only to our Award Winners, but also to the many ICE Client Companies who are with us tonight who, while they may have not achieved public recognition, have every reason to be proud of their achievements as entrepreneurs.

My best wishes to you for your continued success in to the future.

Thank you.