Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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Question 98: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his policy on city and county enterprise boards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13173/12]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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As Minister with responsibility for Enterprise Policy, I have recently announced in the Action Plan for Jobs that a new "one-stop-shop" micro enterprise support structure will be established through the dissolution of the existing CEB structures and the creation of a new Micro Enterprise and Small Business Unit in Enterprise Ireland. EI will work with the Local Authorities to establish a new network of Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs). The LEOs will combine the enterprise support service previously provided by the CEBs and the business support work of the Business Support Units in the Local Authorities, offering an enhanced service because of their seamless access to both EI expertise and the broader business services of the Local Authority.

The aim of the proposal is not simply about abolition or dissolution it is about developing and to enhancing the State services to small business at local level by:

· Delivering a one-stop-shop for small business;

· Offering a seamless service for small companies to take up the wider range of Enterprise Ireland programmes for companies with rapid growth potential;

· Simplifying the structures that small businesses have to deal with;

· Enlisting the Local Authorities into a more active role in small business support and local economic development;

· Establishing a more integrated network between local and national enterprise support which will ensure high standards, uniformly delivered to benchmarked standards of best practice;, and that small business development is supported by appropriate benchmarking within EI.

· Encouraging innovative approaches to support small business.

In conjunction with the dissolution of the CEB legal structure, Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities will be tasked with the practicalities of setting-up and rolling-out a LEO structure. There is clearly a lot of detailed developmental work to be done over the coming months to effect these changes, and to put appropriate new structures in place. I will shortly establish a steering group chaired by my Department, which will move this process forward and address all of the relevant issues. Clearly it is essential that all relevant parties continue to work together to bring about this positive change as a priority and that the continuity of a high level of service to the micro-enterprise sector is preserved in the transition phase.