Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

There is now certainty about the future of county enterprise boards, and it will be to deliver a one-stop shop within local authorities as part of the enterprise family. They will be answerable, through a service level agreement, to Enterprise Ireland, which is establishing a centre of excellence for the support of small business. We have a clear structure that will give people certainty. We will retain local control and there will still be a local evaluation committee. Decisions will still be taken and the evaluation will be done locally, albeit under a service level agreement. We will ensure this is being done in a way that stands up to scrutiny, and although we will not interfere in individual decisions, we will want to see that the overall impact produces quality.

I know the Deputy's comments reflect the views of many people that local authorities are a dead hand. My experience with city and county managers is that many have ambition to be part of driving change and enterprise growth in the area. These are dynamic people that we must harness to the support the process. The success of this initiative will depend on local county and city managers, along with local authority members, wanting to make their county or city the best place in which to do business and the best environment for supporting small business and start-up companies. We depend on that.

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