North Cork Fine Gael Councillor John Paul O’Shea has welcomed the news that 306 new jobs were created across North & West Cork during 2021 by small businesses supported by Cork County Council’s Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Office North & West.
An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD, announced the annual results of the LEOs for 2021 nationally which showed that LEO supported companies created 7,440 jobs around the country in 2021, with 85% of these jobs outside of Dublin.
Councillor O’Shea said, “It is great to see so many new jobs were created last year in North & West Cork. During a very difficult year for many small businesses, this is hugely positive news for North & West Cork and highlights the determination and hard work of business owners and workers across this area. A total of 1,373 people employed in small businesses across North & West Cork benefited from LEO supports over the past year”.
The Cork North & West LEO provides vital support to many of our local businesses, offering advice, mentoring and training, and providing much needed financial backing with programmes such as the Trading Online Voucher, Lean for Micro and Green for Micro.
Cllr. O’Shea added “This support proved particularly valuable over the past almost two years as many businesses were forced to pivot their offerings online or adapt their services to make it through the pandemic. I want to pay tribute to these businesses which have persevered through some of the most difficult times and continued to provide jobs and contribute to our local economy and community.”
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD said, “Over 35,000 people employed in small businesses around the country have been helped in some way by our Local Enterprise Offices. They are at the heart of communities in every county, and have proved invaluable throughout the pandemic, during which I know a huge amount of people relied on their local office. I want to thank all the staff within our LEO Offices for their phenomenal work over the past year.”
