The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe TD, has announced a €1.4 million pilot management training fund for small and medium-size businesses aimed at driving productivity and improving workplace skills.
Minister O’Keeffe said that the “plan is to develop seven regional management development networks this year — two in Dublin, and one each in the west, southwest, midlands, northwest, and southeast.”
According to the Minister: “Research shows that improving management capability in SMEs through this type of training can lead to significant returns in terms of increased value added, employment, better business survival rates, and a more skilled workforce.”
SMEs, which employ 700,000 workers out a total labour force of 1.9 million and which account for some 270,000 Irish businesses, are the bedrock of the domestic economy.
