John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

We are not in flux in any way, we have been clear since the first day we entered government about the need to establish a county enterprise office in every local authority but we cannot just click our fingers and expect these things to happen. The Government has formally approved the restructuring of the existing micro and small enterprise boards. As a result the CEBs will be dissolved in their current legal format and a new micro-enterprise and small business division has been established within Enterprise Ireland with a new and enhanced focus on the wider small business sector. Enterprise Ireland will work with local authorities to establish a new network of local enterprise offices situated in local authority offices to deliver the support functions currently delivered by CEBs and to be the front door for a more embedded culture of enterprise development across the country. EI will work with local authorities to develop a structure, detailed functions and staffing levels. LEOs will have staffing complements from both CEBs and local authorities. That is agreed. Enterprise Ireland will allocate an annual budget to each relevant local authority to contain competitive elements where some part of the allocation will be subject to a bidding process. On foot of the annual budget allocations to each relevant local authority, a formal service level agreement will be agreed between EI and the local authority to contain performance targets and service standards which must be met to ensure a continuous flow of funds.

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