A review of the operation of county enterprise boards will commence in 1996 as part of the brief of the external evaluator appointed under the Operational Programme for Local Urban and Rural Development, 1994-99, under which the CEBs receive Structural Fund support. This review work will be undertaken at two levels, assessing the progress achieved at the overall level of the Local Enterprise Sub-Programme of the Operational Programme, and it will be complemented by review activity undertaken by each county enterprise board. The review will examine the success of the boards in achieving the aggregate quantitative and qualitative targets set out in the operational programme and in the enterprise plans prepared by each board. This review will also contribute to the mid-term review to be carried out under the Community Support Framework.
In addition, the current OECD County Review of Local Development in Ireland should serve as a valuable guide to possible improvements to facilitate greater effectiveness, accountability and subsidiarity in the operation of the various local development strategies.
Over £18 million was provided in grants by the 35 CEBs during 1994 and 1995 resulting in the creation of over 4,000 full-time and 1,000 part-time jobs, according to figures supplied by the boards. The cost per job created up to the end of 1995 was £3,558. In addition, a sum of over £1.4 million was provided to the boards in 1995 to facilitate their soft support activities.
Differentials in the rate of job creation as between various boards can arise for a variety of reasons relating to the nature of the projects, the rate at which they approve these projects and the long-term viability of the projects, to name but a few. These are the same factors that inevitably give rise to disparities in cost per job figures for different boards.
While these job creation and cost per job figures are encouraging, it has to be borne in mind that the boards have only had two full years of operation. The key issue, namely the sustainability of the jobs created, which will determine the success or failure of the county enterprise initiative will, by definition, take some time to determine. This is the area of the boards' operations which will be most carefully assessed and monitored.