Vol. 432 No. 6
120 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will give his job creation expectations from the County Enterprise Boards, with particular reference to County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The objective of the county enterprise boards is primarily strategic and the funding available to them will provide a new source of such needed support for local enterprise initiatives.
The enterprise boards will prepare county action plans, their essential focus being on pro-active strategies to tap the unemployment opportunities in their localities through:
—identifying and commercially developing local resources;
—promoting the creation and development of enterprises from within the local economy, particularly through support for local enterprise groups;
—creating and strengthening networks between the local community and State agencies in the interest of mobilising and co-ordinating their energies and knowledge.
The county enterprise plans will address what specific agreed programme for enterprise development is to be undertaken, by whom and within what time-scale and how the success of the action taken will be measured.
