I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 12, 13 and Written Question No. 60 together.
The Government are confident that our initiative in establishing new county and area enterprise partnership boards will have a strong positive impact on the development of small and start up businesses and on the development of tourism. The Government further believe that the partnership boards will provide an important new local, rather than centralised, basis and focus for decision making in these areas.
Specifically in relation to small and start-up businesses the Government have decided, as set down in the Government statement of 1 October, that the new county enterprise partnership boards will as part of their promotion and assisting of integrated local socio-economic development, provide financial assistance and information services for new and existing small and start-up enterprises, defined as those having existing employment, or potential employment, of up to and including 12 people.
The transfer of the functions involved is from the centralised industrial agencies to the new local partnership boards. Guidelines are now being prepared for the basis of selection by the new boards of individual projects. These guidelines will be agreed by an interdepartmental steering group, which will include among its membership representation from the Department of Industry and Commerce. This will ensure that the implementation of the county and area action plans prepared by each partnership board will accord with national policies in relation to industrial development and other areas of activity. Decisions on the actual selection of projects and the support which they will be given will be solely for the partnership boards.
Specifically in relation to tourism, the new county tourism structures will include the following:
—a member of the regional tourism organisation will be appointed to each of the boards;
—a specialist tourism committee will be established in each partnership board. The industry members of the existing RTOs will ex officio become members of this committee. Through its chairman and a new county/city tourism manager, the committee will report directly to the partnership board and its chief executive;
—a county tourism advisory council will be established, representative of the local tourism industry, all the local authorities, and, where appropriate, the State sectors in tourism.
As part of the overall county action plan to be prepared by each partnership board, the new county tourism manager will prepare a tourism development plan, an integrated plan for the development of tourism in each county. He or she will consult with all relevant local tourism interests and with all relevant State and semi-State agencies, in regard to the county tourism plan. This plan, when sanctioned by the county enterprise partnership board, will form a constituent part of an overall national tourism strategy. The county tourism plan will have the full support of the new board and access to the relevant funding at county and other levels as appropriate. Funding obtained from the industry for tourism will be allocated only for tourism and enterprises will, however, have access to the wider enterprise funds in the new arrangements.