Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 15 Feb 1995

Vol. 449 No. 2

Written Answers. - County Enterprise Boards.

Mary Harney

Question:

70 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he has satisfied himself that the system of county enterprise boards is the most effective means of promoting enterprise which could be deployed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3456/95]

Minister for Enterprise and Employment (Mr. R. Bruton)

The county enterprise boards were established to fill a gap which had been identified in the range of support services for local enterprise. Their role is to develop indigenous potential and to stimulate economic activity at local level, primarily through the provision of financial and technical support for the development of small enterprises.

Prior to their establishment, no nationwide locally-based decision-making mechanism existed for State supports to small and micro enterprises. Most enterprise supports were restricted to those provided by the IDA, SFADCo, ABT etc., with decision-making focused at the regional and national level and assistance restricted to manufacturing and internationally traded services.

The county enterprise initiative provides a mechanism by which a nationwide system of independent, locally-based, decision-making bodies can provide supports for micro-enterprise development on a multi-sectoral basis. The initiative completes the chain of enterprise supports which have been provided under the aegis of my Department to develop industry right through from micro-enterprise to large-scale inward investment.

The county enterprise initiative is one of a number of initiatives at local level which are being supported under the Community Support Framework, 1994-99.It will complement the work of other initiatives through,inter alia, the enterprise plans of the county enterprise boards, which will help to align the range of official supports which can directly impact upon small enterprise creation at local, sub-county and county level. The initiative, when fully operational and availing of structural funds co-financing, will have an enhanced capacity to act as a catalyst for enterprise development in the functional areas of the county enterprise boards.

There will be close and regular liaision between the various initiatives now operating at local level to ensure the most effective use of the various support mechanisms available to micro-enterprise at that level. In addition, these initiatives will be closely monitored at national level through the Interdepartmental Committee on Local Development and the Monitoring Committees of the Community Support Framework (CSF), 1994-99, and the relevant operation programmes established under the CSF, to ensure that they continue to operate within national and EU policies and guidelines.