John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to voice my support for the County Enterprise Boards (Dissolution Bill) 2013, which, as Deputy Áine Collins has noted, probably is awkwardly named, to say the least. The Bill is about more than simply dissolving the existing enterprise boards, as it also provides for the establishment of a new system for local enterprise as an integrated part of local government. Unlike many of the previous speakers, I have never been a member of my local enterprise board in County Kilkenny. I commend the Government on introducing the legislation. While it forms part of the programme for Government, it also formed part of the proposals made in advance of the drawing up of the programme for Government at the time of the last election.

For many years, Ireland has not had a properly functioning local government system. One major reason for this is that certain powers which typically rest with local authorities and local government in many other parts of Europe and elsewhere in the world have traditionally not formed part of the role of local government here. The key aspect of this legislation is that local enterprise will now be integrated into the functioning of local authorities. As this is a positive step in the right direction, I disagree fundamentally with a number of the previous speakers who expressed doubts as to whether local government would be a suitable vehicle for promoting local enterprise. A number of previous speakers outlined their support for Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the successes they have had, particularly more recently, but also appeared to voice concerns that local authorities did not have the requisite personnel with the requisite skills to promote enterprise. Officials of Enterprise Ireland, like local government officials, are public servants and I do not believe a public servant who happens to work in a local authority could not have views of a more enterprising nature, as they are not mutually exclusive.

From my point of view, in the local authorities in Kilkenny, management and staff have always traditionally had a pro-active view to attracting and promoting enterprise in their local authority functional area. The basic tenet of this legislation, to establish a "first-stop shop" for local enterprise within local government is a further effort to reform how local government operates and to ensure functions that should properly be administered by local authorities are administered by them.

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has introduced a number of reforms, probably the most wide-ranging reforms since our system of local government was established in the late 1800s, when we were under a different jurisdiction in terms of reforming the structures of local authorities. This introduction is a further positive step combined with the fact that for the first time in many years local authorities will have a revenue-raising function in the form of the local property tax. These functions should be administered locally and that is principally why I am very much in favour of this legislation which proposes the establishment of these local enterprise offices. I do not conform to the views some have expressed that local government cannot be a place where enterprise exists. We should try to foster more enterprise in local authorities and this legislation will be a significant step in ensuring we can do that into the future.

See this speech in context