Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will take the last question first. I always subscribe to the view that if people expect a service, they must have a tax clearance certificate for any goods and services supplied. That is the way it will be. I do not expect 72% of the people who pay charges will expect the other 28% to be carried by them. I hope the Deputy supports me in that, as his party is doing in Northern Ireland.

The employees of the county enterprise boards will be employees of Enterprise Ireland and seconded to authorities at local levels. The question of pension rights and pay and conditions does not arise. I am surprised the Deputy is not as well informed as he should be with regard to the deliberations on the working groups having ceased. That is not the case and I got a full report this morning. The working groups continue to work through the issues and are very close to agreement. On the local government side we must decide what staff to place in the new local employment offices, and that is now part and parcel of the discussions. No staff is being lost in any sense from county enterprise boards or local government in concentrating what we want to do in supplying good quality advice and support to people who wish to start at local level. I assure the Deputy that I am keen to ensure that is the case.

I note the Deputy's issues of access to the north west. The Border, midlands and west, BMW, region has always received some preferential treatment over and above any other part of the world with rural development measures, and that will continue to be the case in any new programme to emerge in 2014 and beyond.

I would draw the committee's attention to the Connect Ireland initiative with which I was involved through my local government remit. An entrepreneur, Mr. Terry Clune of Taxback, put up his own money for this. I am sure Senator Quinn is familiar with him. Mr. Clune, who is based in Kilkenny, decided on a national basis that he was going to make his contribution towards bringing back some enterprise - in rural areas, in particular - for the economic development of Ireland. The projects that have been announced and those in the pipeline are concentrated on areas that would be well below the radar of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland in terms of their remit concerning foreign direct investment.

Many of the proposals that are currently emerging can be tailored for rural locations where IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland's regional development programme may not always succeed in attracting major foreign direct investment. I can see a lot of value in this initiative. It would be useful for the committee to invite in Connect Ireland's representatives to see what progress they have made, as well as what future plans they have for dealing with initiatives to market places such as Donegal, Galway or Mayo. Some rural areas are largely ignored by IDA Ireland and other statutory bodies.