Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On subhead A5, capital expenditure for IDA Ireland for 2013 has been reduced on the basis of the outcome for 2012. Will the Minister indicate why less money is being invested? The position is similar with regard to Enterprise Ireland, the capital expenditure for which is down considerably on the figure for 2012. Will the Minister indicate why the proposed target of €70 million will not be hit? I presume this money will be paid out in capital grants. Why are we not delivering in this regard?

Subhead A8 deals with county enterprise development. Will the Minister provide an update on progress with regard to the amalgamation of local enterprise offices, LEOs? Will the funding available under this subhead be transferred to Enterprise Ireland next year?

On subhead A15, provision of €193,000 for legal costs and other services was made in 2012. Only €11,000 of this was spent but the amount provided for this year is €312,000. There is no logic to that. Is the Department expecting to be obliged to deal with a large number of legal cases? What is the reason for this increase in expenditure?