Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

As the Minister is aware, these concerns have been raised by elected members of his party. There is great concern at present about the number of State agencies and, in the Agreed Programme for Government, Fianna Fáil gave a commitment to the effect that there would be one-stop shops in the county. The Minister said that he has set up mechanisms, but there is a great worry about the clutter of State agencies, such as the Leader programme, Enterprise Ireland, the county and city enterprise boards, Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Western Development Commission, Shannon Development and FÁS. People are concerned that one agency may be subsidising another to keep people in jobs.

The people who really need money and want help in setting up businesses still do not know where they have to go to get the grant aid they need. There is total confusion. Those in Fianna Fáil as well as Fine Gael and people in the community are concerned about this and believe there is too much duplication. I want to know what the Minister can do to stop this wastage of taxpayers' money so that we may have a one-stop shop. If someone is coming into the Gaeltacht or a town in any county, there should be a one-stop shop where he or she can submit proposals and ask for help. Instead, people are being told they have to go hither and thither, and it is taxpayers' money that has to pay for all these agencies.

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