The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, yesterday said it was vitally important that the non-urban part of Dublin be developed to its maximum potential. She was speaking in the heartland of her own constituency, in Rathcoole, Co Dublin where she launched a Rural Dublin LEADER programme called NEST (New Enterprise Support Trust).
Ms Harney, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said she was committed to balanced development and the programme, which had been originally devised by the "Get Tallaght Working" group.
NEST, she said, was designed to provide on-going support, training and monitoring for people who want to set up small enterprises locally.
She said the programme, which the LEADER board is supporting with a £70,000 grant, had already helped to create 31 jobs in areas including arts, crafts, a digital security enterprise, a language school, tourism projects and a hygienic laundry.
The Tanaiste said that it was a great credit to the LEADER programme that it would create 175 jobs over the next three years using £70,000 when the cost of creating a job in Ireland was now averaging out at £10,000.
The setting up of enterprises based on local resources and services was the key to our development, she added, and this applied to jobs in all sectors, including industry, agriculture and tourism.
