Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join the Minister of State in thanking the staff of the Houses and the Department for their work on this legislation. The county enterprise boards have done very good work since 1993. The notion that the new regime will offer some type of all-singing, all-dancing show serves only to undermine that legacy. In fact, the local enterprise offices will essentially be building on the very good track record the county enterprise boards have left behind.

It is important that we get started without delay. The establishment of the LEOs has been announced more often than I have had hot dinners. We had yet another announcement this morning in the context of the so-called Action Plan for Jobs. It is time now to get things moving. In terms of the service level agreement, I realise that the Minister of State has a major interest in this area. The SLA must have some role in future for elected members if we are to be true to the ethos of putting people first in terms of local government.

I congratulate the Minister of State on his achievement in progressing the Bill. He has put an enormous effort into it. Let us proceed now with rolling out the initiative.

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