Richard Bruton
Question:21 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the measure of success of the county enterprise boards and the way in which their progress will be evaluated.
Ceisteanna — Questions Oral Answers - County Enterprise Boards.
P. J. Sheehan
Question:59 Mr. Sheehan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the measure of success of the county enterprise boards and the way in which their progress shall be evaluated.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 and 59 together.
The measure of success of county enterprise boards will be the extent to which they achieve their objectives. The objectives of the county enterprise boards will be strategic and the funding available to them should provide a new source of much needed support for local enterprise initiatives. The county enterprise boards have given clear enterprise and job creation objectives and will be responsible for business areas not already covered by the State industrial development agencies.
Their key task will be to tap the employment opportunities in their localities through: developing enterprise action plans covering all sectors in their county; creating local enterprise awareness and developing an enterprise culture to ensure community based enterprise activity; providing grant support to individuals and local community groups to assist commercially viable small enterprise projects and influencing the allocation of resources for small enterprises from European Community, private and public funding sources.
In summary, therefore, the objectives of each county enterprise board are to focus, develop and support the main forces of local entrepreneurship and enterprise within the framework of coherent, integrated county enterprise action plans so as to build a local economy of real strength and permanence.
The county enterprise co-ordinating committee, together with the monitoring committee to be established to monitor the operational programme on local development under the national plan 1994-99, will evaluate the progress of the boards.
It must be acknowledged that there is a great deal of goodwill in all parties for what is known as bottom up, or local development. However, will the Minister agree that there is widespread anxiety that the raft of institutions which he is setting up through the county enterprise boards, the regional boards and the extensive local development initiatives will create a proliferation of committees and bureaucracies which have never been the source of enterprise here at either local or national level? Will he agree that we need more specific litmus tests against which this structure could be tested? This should be a temporary and experimental structure and be forced to prove itself rapidly. Will the Minister agree that it will be difficult in one or two years' time to say whether the network is a success or failure?
The Deputy's questioning is too long. Although we have some discretion today, questions should be dealt with in the formal manner.
To put it bluntly, will the Minister agree that, from what he stated in his reply, it will be difficult in two or three years' time to obtain an answer in this House which can be properly evaluated as to whether this structure has worked?
I do not agree with the Deputy. I welcome the commitment across the political spectrum in this House towards the concept of bottom-up development. The nature of the development is such that we are not exactly sure what components of such a widespread approach will be successful. Accordingly, we have established 36 county enterprise partnership boards in the local authority structures throughout the country. They have clear strategic objectives, budgets and terms of reference and in one, two or three years' time we will be able to answer the hypothetical question posed by the Deputy. We will be able to contrast the number of jobs promised with those sustained, measure the amount of money each board received from this House through my Department and how much of that money has resulted in the creation of sustainable jobs. I do not believe that to proceed on a pilot basis — which I suspect is what the Deputy suggests — would be fair at this time. If the commitment to bottom-up development exists we should make it available throughout the country on reasonably flexible terms, which is what we have done, but also in a manner which will enable us to monitor its success and take whatever corrective action is necessary. That process is in place at present.
Will the Minister agree that the establishment of 172 committees, set up between the 36 county enterprise boards and their evaluation committees, the nine regional authorities and their evaluation committees, the 42 local development initiatives and their evaluation committees, is a huge superstructure to impose on local enterprise? Would it not be better to develop a genuine bottom-up enterprise culture with the ability to answer to one regional authority?
I take issue with the Deputy. The basis of his opening statement was that he favoured bottom-up development and we have created a multi-layered structure within which such development can take place.
The Minister has certainly created a multi-layered structure.
The Deputy might as well say that there should be just one central structure within which to operate, but that would be contradictory. For people living in Clare, in Cork North East or in any of the 12 area-basedProgramme for Economic and Social Progress companies there is no confusion. There may be confusion from a central point of view, but the Deputy is contradicting his analysis by looking at it from that perspective. If he examines it from the perspective of the average person there is little or no confusion.
Question No. 22 in the name of Deputy Rabbitte has been postponed.
I seek your guidance, Sir, on this matter. A number of questions tabled by me to the Minister, which referred to specific aspects of employment, were transferred to other Departments. I refer in particular to a priority question I tabled.
It is not proper to deal with that matter in this manner.
I appreciate that, but——
If the Deputy has a grievance he should communicate with my office, but he may not raise the matter now.
A Cheann Comhairle——
Will the Deputy resume his seat? I am proceeding to other questions to the Minister for Enterprise and Employment.
On a point of order, may I raise the matter so that the Minister——
I ask the Deputy to resume his seat.
On a point of order——
The Deputy may not raise a point of order when I am dealing with disorder.
I appreciate that, but I am trying to establish——
If the Deputy persists, he knows the consequences.
I do not wish to——
I must ask the Deputy to desist or leave the House.
You are being unfair.
I am calling Question No. 23 in the name of Deputy Shatter to the Minister for Enterprise and Employment.