Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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115. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the reason the proposed LEOs are going to be less confusing for businesses; if the limit of 10 employees is maintained for the LEOs; if the LEOs will be able to engage with indigenous companies who employ more than 10 but do not export; if he will confirm that the new LEOs will have an independent evaluation committee based on independent business experts and professionals who chair such committees; if he will explain the reason the current proposal to have county managers or their representatives chair such an expert committee is supportive of achieving economic development and job creation in view of the fact that it is not their area of expertise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19465/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The CEB restructuring project is the first radical reform of the system for the delivery of State support to micro and small businesses since the establishment of the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs). This reform will bring about a new level of engagement and interaction at both national and local level in relation to enterprise support and stimulation and economic recovery and growth. The proposed reforms offer a huge opportunity to leverage the skills, resources and experience of the CEBs, Local Authorities and local business community to create a national approach to the sector allowing for seamless progression, innovative performance, streamlined delivery and increased employment.

The Centre of Excellence within Enterprise Ireland (EI) will be responsible for developing an improved environment for small and micro business and bringing this sector into the heart of national enterprise policy. It will build on the success of the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) by developing new thinking and best practice with regard to supports for small and micro business and ensuring their delivery. Some of the strengths and advantages that EI will bring to the LEOs are an enhanced insight to the opportunities for development of key and emerging sectors, clusters and networks; a back-stop of technical expertise to assist in the assessment of potential investment projects and access to a central reservoir of information, benchmarking programme performance and assessing international best practice. The LEOs will be the first-stop-shop through which all information on State supports for small and micro businesses can be accessed, and where businesses with clear high growth potential can be fast-tracked to the next level of support from EI.

As Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation I will retain responsibility for policy, and a key feature of this new structure will be the consistent application of policy across all LEOs, from the evaluation of applications for funding support, to the spending of budgets allocated. I will shortly be publishing a Framework Service Level Agreement that has been agreed between Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities which will form the basis within which LEOs will operate in delivering enterprise supports. This includes details on the creation of the Evaluation Committees that will be established. They will include representatives from Enterprise Ireland and a number of business representatives and entrepreneurs with specific business expertise. The decision to have the County Manager, or their representative, chair the committee is in line with their responsibility in the delivery of this service on behalf of Enterprise Ireland.

In addition to the publication of the SLA the national micro enterprise policy guidelines are currently being reviewed and developed and will outline how micro and small enterprises will be supported. The Deputy will be aware that I engaged in a full public consultation process and the valuable inputs received are currently helping to frame these guidelines. The current policy of supporting companies with less than ten employees that are involved in manufacturing and internationally traded services will be broadened to a situation where all micro and small businesses will be included in the first-stop-shop services of the LEO e.g. companies with greater than ten employees and those trading in the domestic market will be eligible for appropriate supports.