Mr. Tom Hayes:

Quite a number of strategies are being prepared and I will start with those at local level. Within the next few weeks we will have a local enterprise plan for every local enterprise office from the bottom up in terms of the local enterprise office's vision for the county for which it is responsible, the strategic issues confronting the county, the objectives it will have and the metrics in terms of start-ups, expansions, jobs maintained, events and all of that. That is very much the start of it. Each local authority is undertaking consultation on the preparation of a county plan, which is the wider county plan in terms of all of the economic planning and positions within the county. The local enterprise office plan will feed into that, so that it is an integrated county plan. My understanding is that those county plans will be prepared by mid-year. That is what is happening on the enterprise side.

We are also developing regional enterprise strategies, to which Ms Sinnamon referred in her presentation. These are somewhat wider than the county. This process is an effort to look beyond the activities we are undertaking, to pull in other stakeholders and to ensure that Enterprise Ireland, the local enterprise offices, the Chamber of Commerce and the IDA - all the key players locally - work together to see how they can enhance and strengthen the work they are undertaking locally rather than each being compartmentalised. That work has started in the midlands. There will be a midlands strategy launch within the next few weeks and then it will be rolled out. The south east strategy is the next one and the plan is to have those completed by July.

With respect to spatial planning, following on from the county plans, the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government will work on those. There is an 18-month horizon for the development of those. While we have views and we are part of many local agencies, local development groups and all of that, our key input will be on the enterprise part of those in terms of planning. This week we are starting the process of each county preparing a pretty sophisticated enterprise plan for its area.