Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 160 to 162, inclusive, together.

Following the dissolution of the County Enterprise Boards the 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) were established under the Local Authority structure and the functions of the County Enterprise Boards were transferred to Enterprise Ireland. A Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities provides for the operation of the LEO, who carry out the functions on behalf of Enterprise Ireland. This SLA sets out the relevant policies, operational guidelines, metrics, and other provisions relating to the operation of the LEOs.

Under the terms of the SLA, the Chief Executive of the Local Authority is ultimately responsible for the day-to-day management of the LEO including staffing. The SLA provides that enterprise development is at the core of the LEO. The staffing complement of each LEO is based on their Local Authority band, which is based on the population in each Local Authority area.

Appointment of staff to positions within the LEOs is subject to the agreed Recruitment Protocol. LEO staff are Local Authority employees and as such are remunerated by their respective Local Authority. The Local Authorities receive an administration grant from DETE towards the pay of the LEO staff. This provides a contribution towards the salary of 210 staff in addition to the full salary cost and 13% pension contribution of 31 graduates. The contribution for each of the 210 sanctioned LEO posts is calculated as 90.12% multiplied by the 2016 mid-point of the salary range of each post.

The current staffing allocations for each LEO are set out in the table below.