Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Tá lúcháir orm go bhfuil an soiléiriú sin ar fáil. We would very much welcome reading the service level agreement ahead of Report Stage of the Bill in order to reflect on it.

I do not question in any way either the sincerity of the Minister of State's standpoint or the view he has expressed as to the benefit of the change. My worst fears, however, have been confirmed after hearing the Minister of State read that script. I refer to the statement that while the primary source of funding for LEOs will come from the State, local authorities are also expected to provide funding - funding they do not have. At present county councils throughout the country are not engaged in job creation. Through the planning and economic development units of county councils and the county development plan they have certain functions and a statutory obligation to assist in this area where they play a pivotal role. That applies to county enterprise boards all over but nowhere is it more evident than in County Donegal where the county manager since 1993 has been the chairman of the county enterprise board. Councillors who have sat on these boards are now being dismissed under the new structures.

To date, job-creating responsibilities have been performed by Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the county enterprise boards but all funding came from central government sources. It would be grossly unfair now if councils are to be asked to provide even a small amount of the required moneys. When the Minister of State mentions the primary source of funding is to come from the Exchequer, what does "primary source" mean? Is it 50%, 80% or 95%? What is the expectation of matching funding under this proposed legislation for local authorities? I am told different things, depending on who I speak to and have been given different levels of matching funding but these are only anecdotal. I can only go on the information provided to me but I understand there will be a matching funding requirement for local councils. This is funding they do not have and will compete with other commitments they have.

I accept the transfer of functions, as agreed in the legislation, will take care of the staffing complement but it is the hard core money that bothers me. Ultimately, this is about creating jobs and this costs money. The role of county enterprise boards, while providing mentoring and assistance, was to provide grant aid and seed capital to new companies starting up. To do that money is needed. On a cost per job basis, let us take, for example, a new enterprise that would create five jobs. Suppose the cost per job is €5,000 or €10,000 in grants, and the company receives a grant of €50,000 for setting up X number of jobs. Where is the €50,000 to come from now? Will it come solely from central government sources? Will this continue in regard to any form of venture capital, whether seed capital or interest-free loans? The county enterprise board model of interest-free loans has been exceptionally well received in business circles. Will it continue and, if not, from where will loans be funded? That is the crux here. Where is the money coming from for the funding for business start-ups that used to come from county enterprise boards? This is a long way of trying to find out the answer.