Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

The Deputy will appreciate that while we are in the programme with the IMF and EU authorities, we can only borrow enough to meet the day-to-day running of the country and a small capital programme. To get movement in the economy and put people back to work, we need to think outside the box. NewERA is in effect an exercise in thinking outside the box in terms of putting a demand stimulus package in place through the provision of new infrastructure and using parts of what is already in place.

The staffing of NewERA will in the first place be done through reallocation of staff from the NTMA group of companies and the new director, Ms Eileen Fitzpatrick, was already employed in the NTMA. In regard to the amount of money to be spent, it will be project driven in the early stages and the intention is that the State's investment will leverage a considerable amount of funds from the private sector. In regard to when legislation will be introduced, NewERA will be set up on a non-statutory basis at the outset but we have asked the NTMA and NewERA to bring forward proposals by the middle of 2012 on the establishment of a holding company. That, of course, would have to be established on a statutory basis.

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