Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The changeover from the county enterprise boards system is a substantial move. I agree that some local authorities, including my own in County Laois, have been very active in the areas of job creation and assisting small employment projects through the development of enterprise centres and other supports. The concern is that there seems to be some opposition to this proposal from the SME sector and from ISME and the SFA in particular. They have publicly opposed this and expressed their belief that there is not the expertise within local authorities to propel economic development. They have also expressed a concern about political interference with business supports.

There has been a consultation process but that is now over. Is there a turf war going on and is that causing problems? Has enough work been done with the small business sector to get the message across that this proposal will actually work?

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