Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I note the Minister of State's responses. This is all about bringing the expertise of Enterprise Ireland and the county enterprise boards into the local authorities.

My experience is that the proposal has been welcomed across the board as a much more efficient way of delivering a very valuable service to local enterprises and individuals wishing to set up businesses. They will now be able to access all the information and supports they need in a one-stop-shop format from the local authority rather than having to go all around the houses. As the Minister of State pointed out, the money that was previously allocated to the county enterprise boards is being ring-fenced for the same purpose under the local authorities. Businesses will now have easier access to the experience and expertise of Enterprise Ireland through the provision of its micro-enterprise support services and so on. The local enterprise offices will report directly to the city or county managers, which is an important provision.

As I said, the local authority members and officials to whom I have spoken welcome these changes as an opportunity for them to get involved in the types of local job creation measure they have been seeking. Given their existing functions in the areas of planning, economic monitoring and corporate services, for example, they are well placed to deal with this new challenge and are, moreover, looking forward to it.