Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this very important Bill. I tentatively welcome the Bill as, to use a cliché, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. The Bill is designed to dissolve the existing county enterprise boards, of which there are 35 in all, and replace them with a combination of Enterprise Ireland and a network of local enterprise offices to be run by the local authorities. This makes sense, as a business or start-up company seeking advice from the enterprise boards needs information about planning, zoning or rates, and it is sensible to have these under one roof. The experience of enterprise boards has been mixed so the Minister should take this opportunity to improve the skills of all the people in the area and make them fit for purpose. I thank all the staff who do good work, but some need to brought into 2014.

This Bill will remove current anomalies in the system and ensure that all small and medium enterprises and micro-businesses can access State supports. It will establish a centre of excellence within Enterprise Ireland, with specific targets such as increasing the number and trying to ensure the survival of new start-up businesses, which are so important to this economy. It will also try to target the number of start-ups by women - there has been great work in Kilkenny in that regard - and job creation. The task facing Enterprise Ireland will be to draw these agencies under one roof, improve the good work done to date by the county enterprise board and ensure that any start-up company will be looked after as it begins to grow by giving it the appropriate supports it needs to continue.

I draw the Minister's attention to a potential pitfall that needs to be addressed. There are companies in receipt of grants from county enterprise boards, and ultimately the taxpayer, which are flouting some existing employment law. This must stop. All companies operating in the State today should be compliant with existing labour law and, specifically, there should be no State support for companies not in compliance with employment rights and labour law. For example, a certain company may be in receipt of grant aid while being in breach of employment legislation by exploiting the workforce. Not only should that company have its grant aid rescinded, but there should be a mechanism whereby the State can claw back the grant aid that was given in the first place. It is not right that we live in a country where it is possible for a company to attain Government-funded grants for the business - this is taxpayers' money - and to use the funding in an environment where basic employment law is not being complied with.

There is an ongoing problem in our society, as some employers are not obliged to recognise unions. The right to free association and to join a union are enshrined in our Constitution as part of our fundamental rights, but employers are still not obligated to recognise such representation. Union recognition and company compliance with labour law further justifies the need for such laws to be tightened. Our employment laws exist to protect ordinary workers, and if a company refuses to pay appropriate overtime - for example, by giving proper time off or paying a minimum wage, to name just a few potential infringements - the taxpayer should not be asked to fund that business through grant aid. Such companies should have to repay any grant already paid. Avoiding exploitation such as this will be one of the challenges facing Enterprise Ireland, and I hope the Minister will take that on board.

I have fast-forwarded through some issues and I am assuming that everything will work according to plan. This is a small but important issue, as grant aid is not easily achieved, and if somebody is flouting the law, another party might put that funding to better use.

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