Vol. 513 No. 4
115 Mr. Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will raise the limits for applications for the county enterprise boards to £150,000 to ensure that the criteria laid down for the boards to assist with industrial development within their areas can be met; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2801/00]
The operating agreements entered into between the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the 35 county enterprise boards during 1995 stipulate that the limit for eligible fixed assets which may be supported by the boards shall not exceed £100,000. This is considered more than adequate for the type of micro-enterprise which the boards were established to support. It is also worth pointing out that, in the context of the radically improved economic and employment situation, policy will be directed at reducing the cost to the taxpayer of industrial development, rather than the reverse.
I would add that the boards were informed in June 1999 that this limit may be raised to £0.25 million for exceptional projects with my prior approval.
116 Mr. Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will investigate the problems created by dead weight in relation to applications for funding to county enterprise boards; if she will make the relevant changes to the guidelines to ensure that development in small industry is not deterred due to this problem; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2802/00]
The avoidance of deadweight and displacement is critical towards the achievement of best value for the Exchequer's investment in enterprise development. I am not aware of any deterrent to the development of small industry in the boards' guidelines regarding deadweight.
Just a year ago, I informed the 35 county enterprise boards that, in future, they should focus their efforts on the development of manufacturing and internationally traded services projects which, in time, will have the potential to develop into strong export-oriented entities. This strategy is predicated primarily on the potential of and the need for the enterprise boards to become the major upstream source of dynamic and fast growing projects for eventual handover to Enterprise Ireland.
The soon to be published operational programmes for the Border, midlands and western region and the southern and eastern region will re-emphasise the need for greater selectivity by the boards in their financial interventions for mico-enterprise support, particularly against the background of virtually full employment and acute labour shortages.
