Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for that.

Senator Feargal Quinn raised the issue of high street decay. Many practices have changed, and I have seen that myself. Increasingly, pubs and bookies are in the centres of towns and much of the traditional shopping is migrating out. Ultimately, it is down to the customers, but some local authorities have had initiatives to try to revive streets or particular areas, with some success. There is scope in that regard and it is right to bring the local authorities into the fold because they are important determinants of the way towns develop and the other elements, such as parking, that change the environment. It is good to have them inside the enterprise tent.

We consulted electronically, but obviously we went to all the small business units. We created a consultation document, which we published. There has been a very good response rate.

We will have an initiative in 2013 to try to simplify licensing, starting with the retail sector. Forfás did a study of 159 licences during the course of last year which found an element of duplication and showed how the process could be streamlined and simplified. We will have an initiative in that sphere and if it works in retail we will move beyond that.

Regarding on-time payment, I signed that order for the European directive, which I believe comes into force around the Ides of March. It creates a new obligation on companies to have certain practices from which they can opt out, but the default mode is paying on time. Some people would like to see it being made compulsory, but that is another day's work. The State is already monitoring this, and it has been extended to different tranches of State activity, but all central Departments have been paying within 30 days. This has now dropped to 15 days and they are meeting that target. We are trying to widen the circle to make sure the State is paying on time and bringing in extra players. Undoubtedly, in this climate it is an area in which businesses can help one another by having responsible practices. It is important that the bigger suppliers recognise the pressure on smaller suppliers that is caused by not paying on time.

I do not dispute what Senator White said. Most members acknowledged that not all county enterprise boards were of equal quality. That does not lie at the door of our Department; local authorities had their own boards. We are now seeking to address that by having a centre of excellence that will provide technical support to lift the standards of those who are weaker. As I said to Deputy Lawlor, we will also have a competitive element and therefore the better will do better in the allocation of funds. That also helps people to improve. There will be benchmarks under the service level agreements. The way in which different enterprise offices are performing will be more transparent. That is the new professionalism in the public service. People want to work to high standards and we will assess standards. The Department has a strategy. It is one I am behind and we intend to push ahead and deliver that strategy. Until we see the change, Senator White is entitled to be sceptical, but we are convinced we will deliver it. The criticism is that it is all paperwork. It could be said that our action plan for jobs is all paperwork, but in terms of the public service saying it will be accountable quarter by quarter on the delivery of a broad strategy, I have never seen that in my lifetime, and I am a long time in politics. We have seen many strategies but we have rarely seen a public service-----