Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will leave the Leader funding structure as it is; if he will set out the advantage of moving the Leader programmes and the county enterprise boards into the local authorities; his views on whether the Leader programmes and the CEBs are enterprise focused and that the local authorities are service focused and thus the two entities are culturally different and will not sit well together; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11802/13]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s Action Programme for Effective Local Government: Putting People First sets out a significant reform programme for local government, which aims to give it greater capacity to promote local economic and social development.  These reforms envisage a greater alignment between local development and local government that will bring greater efficiency and co-ordination to the delivery of a broad range of public services locally. The remit of the local government system in Ireland is unduly narrow.  However, through a comprehensive reform process, which encompasses the development of capacity and strategic collaboration with stakeholders such as local development bodies, the sector can respond to the significant international evidence that local government should assume a leadership role in fostering local collaboration for economic and social development.

A range of economic and enterprise supports are currently provided through a number of different programmes, delivery bodies and local governance structures at local level.  For many years, local authorities have been engaged in promoting local economic development; County and City Enterprise Boards have had lead responsibility locally for micro-enterprise development, while certain aspects of the LEADER programmes have also promoted local economic development through supports for businesses and entrepreneurs.

As a key part of Government’s overall response to the current jobs crisis, it is necessary to intensify our responses at local level.  This can be achieved through the integration of all local economic and enterprise supports within a single integrated local and economic development system.  The Government decision to establish Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities, which will be complemented by a greater integration of local government and local development economic and enterprise supports, will facilitate an improved co-ordination of efforts locally.  It will see the dynamism and innovative capacity of County and City Enterprise Boards and LEADER companies combined with the institutional capacity of local government to provide a strong platform for economic development locally, and it will streamline supports for business and entrepreneurs at local level.