Vol. 822 No. 4
6. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the actions his Department have taken to harness the potential of crowdfunding for Irish enterprise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50551/13]
What are the Minister of State's views on crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding, in respect of enterprise and other activities, is becoming an ever more popular alternative mechanism for businesses and promoters across the globe to access finance in a difficult financial market. In its various forms, crowdfunding allows individuals, businesses and promoters to solicit capital from funders, using social networks and crowdfunding platforms to finance projects. It appears to be affording real opportunities in the area of alternative finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs. Use of the mechanism appears to have seen substantial growth globally in the recent past, and it is seen by many sponsors as a means of democratising access to funds and supply of capital while moving the model away from venture capitalists and angel investors.
The Minister, Deputy Bruton, has met a crowdfunding company, Linked Finance, to explore the potential for this new source of funding in an Irish context. In addition, as part of a process of exploring new approaches for improving access to finance, departmental officials have engaged at EU level and the small business advisory group has considered crowdfunding and alternative access to finance models.
Crowdfunding is in its infancy and financial returns on capital will dictate its overall success. Data are not readily available domestically, at EU level or internationally with which to analyse its impact to date, although moves are afoot at EU level to consider methods to address this data deficiency. The issues of consumer protection and regulation also exercise many countries operating in this space. Decisions are only beginning to be taken in respect of these key elements of this novel way of funding enterprises. The Government, through the State bodies group chaired by the Department of Finance, is keeping the issue under review as to how best to utilise crowdfunding benefits to promote business development.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
In terms of supporting access to various forms of financing, substantial funding has been provided by the Government and my Department is actively engaged in various initiatives. For example, my Department provides funding for the HALO business angel partnership, HBAP, through Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland. This partnership provides investment for start-ups and has recently broken a €55 million total investment milestone in 128 deals since the organisation was founded six years ago. In total, €23 million has been invested by angel investors brought to the table by the national HBAP organisation over the past six years. The balance of €32.5 million was committed by seed funds, Enterprise Ireland and other private investors. HALO also works to develop business angel syndicates. Up to 60% of all angel funding in Ireland is coming through individuals, with syndicate groups making up a healthy 40%.
My Department has also funded the seed and venture capital scheme 2013-2017 through Enterprise Ireland, which will make commitments totalling €175 million to business during the operation of the scheme. This commitment is expected to leverage a further €525 million in private sector funding. Considerable effort has been put into addressing the seed and early stage funding gap indirectly through commitments to venture capital funds and directly through Enterprise Ireland's investment in the early stage competitive start fund and high potential start-up companies in 2012. Further Government supports include the seed capital scheme, SCS, and the employment and investment incentive scheme, EIIS, which are tax relief incentives for businesses provided by the Revenue Commissioners.
Linked Finance has brokered €1 million in lending after just six months. The UK Government has pledged to give £20 million to the UK's Funding Circle. It is willing to take a punt and has put necessary regulation in place for this sector. Crowdfunding is a solution for new start-up companies in areas where traditional lending methods have failed or will not take a risk. We discussed this last night with the Minister. The problem is we will be waiting for the EU to respond to this matter while companies looking for this kind of funding will give up and move to the UK where the funding is available. It must be remembered that funding is available in the northern part of this island. Will the Minister take a punt on crowdfunding and put regulations in place to ensure investment is protected rather than wait for an EU response in 2016 when the ship will have sailed?
I take the Deputy’s point. Linked Finance has made presentations to the State bodies group. We are aware of the possibilities of this potential source of funding. We are also aware of the UK initiative through Funding Circle and its £20 million pot. As it is a lending and investment model, we need to examine the tax implications, returns on investment and regulation. We have the seed and venture capital scheme, the HALO business angel partnership. These are other sources of funding which the State provides through its agencies. We are tracking this issue and will be proactive on the matter.
I have raised this matter before. This funding model has been proved to work in America and the UK. One issue that was raised with me by people interested in this funding system was the possibility of a tax relief for those lending as a way of the Government supporting it at an early phase to help get it off the ground.
I note the Deputy’s point. Linked Finance has made a presentation to the State bodies group. It is a live issue as a way of providing new forms of financing for enterprises and start-up companies. It is necessary to examine the regulatory and taxation regime as well as the permutations for the people taking the punt, as Deputy Calleary said, to ensure it is robust and they will not be caught out by this. An exemption on profits is also being examined.
7. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the purpose of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is to remove the regulatory differences between the U.S. and European nations; his view on the the way it will impact on jobs here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50563/13]
According to the bodies concerned, the main objective of the TTIP is to remove as many trade barriers as possible to ensure the freedom of movement of trade and investment, the argument being that there are too many regulatory systems on both sides of the Atlantic. The European Commission claims the agreement will lead to savings of moneys and jobs. One concerning aspect of the agreement is the power it will give to transnational corporations to sue national governments for what they see as potential infringements of their intellectual property, effectively overriding the laws of nations in the interests of capital.
The Deputy introduced a new matter that was not in his original question. The mandate given to the European Commission, the negotiator for the EU in the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, TTIP, negotiations is a broad-ranging one. It builds on the outcome of the work of the EU-US high level group that recommended that negotiations on a comprehensive trade and investment agreement between the EU and the US should aim to achieve ambitious outcomes in three broad areas, namely, market access, tariffs and quotas, regulatory and non-tariff barriers, and rules addressing shared global trade challenges and opportunities.
Regulatory differences can represent unnecessary barriers to trade. Reducing such barriers to trade will be one of the most important ways TTIP will help to achieve the expected economic benefits from an agreement. Studies suggest that between two thirds and four fifths of the gains would come from reducing unnecessary administrative burdens, as well as having more co-ordination between regulators. A simple example would be a pharmaceutical product having to be clinically trialed in both the EU and the US, creating an unnecessary cost. Mutual recognition would be a significant gain in this regard. Closer co-operation between EU and US regulators should make regulation more effective and efficient and, for example, should reduce costs for business and regulators by eliminating unnecessary duplication of inspections.
Agreeing common standards may encourage other countries to bring their standards up too. This has the potential to lessen trade barriers internationally and increase the opportunities for greater international trade and investment, just what the world economy needs right now. Reducing barriers does not mean reducing standards, rather it means finding ways to achieve our legitimate public policy objectives, be they food safety, product safety, chemicals usage, environmental or worker health and safety, without maintaining or creating artificial and unnecessary trade barriers.
According to assessments made by the European Commission and other European bodies, a comprehensive partnership could, over time, boost EU gross domestic product, GDP, by 0.5% per annum and help create approximately 400,000 jobs in the EU. Based on those assessments, if Ireland simply benefited in proportion to the size of our economy, a comprehensive trade and investment partnership could, over time, provide gains to Ireland in excess of €800 million per annum in increased GDP and 4,000 new jobs.
While I do not have a problem with free trade or the free movement of goods and people, there is a bit more to this agreement than that. For example, it will allow corporations to sue governments when they are trying to protect their citizens from their activities. It allows a secretive panel of corporate lawyers to overrule the will of national parliaments and the legal protections in place through the mechanism of the investor-state dispute settlement.
Before this agreement is settled, will there be a vote on it in the European Parliament or will it come to this House before we sign up to it? It has serious implications for citizens.
Agreements of this nature have to come back for ratification. The European Commission is mandated to negotiate on behalf of the governments but the deal must be agreed in the end by the governments. We have a common market in the EU so if we are negotiating rules with other markets, it is appropriate that the Commission would conduct the negotiation. If legally binding agreements are put in place and some institution refuses to respect them a company would have a right of redress against a failure to honour an agreement that has been signed. The investor-state dispute settlement is a separate issue, and if Deputy Wallace tables a separate parliamentary question one I could give him chapter and verse on it. We do not have these investor dispute settlements in Ireland and we have not used them.
Recently WikiLeaks leaked information on the trans-Pacific trade agreement, which has much of the same mechanism involved in it. That agreement was found to be as much about extending monopoly rights of companies such as Monsanto rather than free trade. Of 29 chapters in that agreement, only five related to trade. There was much more concentration on patents, copyrights, trade marks and industrial design, which has serious implications for Internet service, civil liberties, publishing rights and accessibility to medicine. This idea that we may create a forum where corporations have the ability to sue states is a bad direction in which to go and should not be tolerated. It gives far too much power to corporations, undermines democracy and significantly erodes citizens rights.
Corporations always have the right to sue states. There is nothing innovative about that. If an international agreement gives certain terms of access, a corporation is entitled to see that parties which have contracted to that agreement would respect that. As I said in my reply, this in no way seeks to change the legal protections the EU has in any area, whether in food, intellectual property or data rights protection. Those will be issues of considerable difference in negotiation on intellectual property rights. The US has a different approach from the EU. This does not seek for the EU to give up its approach but to remove unnecessary trade barriers that, given the agreed approaches to food safety or intellectual property, would interfere with trade, while respecting the rules in each country. This is not to try to harmonise rules. It is to respect rules but not to have barriers to prevent trade given the rules that exist in other countries.
8. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the specific projects that he plans for County Donegal arising from Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012 - 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50565/13]
22. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide an update on his efforts to create new jobs in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50486/13]
My question is to ask the Minister the specific projects he has planned for County Donegal arising from Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-2016. Specifically I would like the Minister to outline the projects he has planned as part of that. His Department is spending more than €500 million per year on capital projects in the coming years. Can the Minister give an assurance that there will be funding for specific projects in Donegal? I will mention three in particular-----
No you will not, not yet. The Deputy has only 30 seconds for his introduction.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 22 together.
Enterprise Ireland runs many initiatives to help sustain existing jobs and to create new jobs in the county and provides funding to the Institute of Technology in Letterkenny to build research capabilities in County Donegal and the north west region. There are 180 Enterprise Ireland client companies in County Donegal employing 2,655 people on a full-time basis and 706 people on a contract or part-time basis. Donegal’s industry base is transforming from the clothing and textile industry to high-tech, high-skill activity and IDA Ireland actively promotes County Donegal as a successful location for high-end manufacturing.
There are 14 IDA Ireland-supported companies in Donegal employing 2,228 people in full- and part-time employment in software development, systems development and medical technology. IDA Ireland also actively engages with its existing base of companies in County Donegal, highlighting the ongoing importance of upskilling and reskilling and the need to add high-value activities to ensure sustainability and ongoing development.
Donegal County Enterprise Board, CEB, aims to develop indigenous enterprise potential, with the provision of financial and non-financial assistance such as priming grants, business expansion and development grants and feasibility or innovation study grants together with business advice and information services. In 2012, projects supported by Donegal CEB employed 1,578 people on a full-time basis and 856 on a contract or part-time basis.
As regards future plans, the new local enterprise offices, LEOs, will draw and build on the successful CEB model. They will be the first-stop-shop through which all information on State supports for small and micro businesses can be accessed and where businesses with clear high-growth potential can be fast-tracked to the next level of support from Enterprise Ireland. This enhanced model is designed to harness the best elements of the enterprise agencies and local government and to support local business and contribute to local development. For the first time, the skills, experience and resources of Enterprise Ireland, the CEBs and the local authorities will be combined in a structured and coherent manner to benefit micro and small businesses.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
I am currently preparing the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs on behalf of the Government and we will continue, through that process, to build on the success of the actions we have taken in the past two years. At a macro level the Government’s strategy is to re-build the economy and accelerate the transition to a sustainable, jobs-rich economy based on enterprise, innovation and exports. Thus will we create the environment in which sustainable jobs will be created, living standards will be raised and Ireland will be regarded as an attractive location in which to live and work.
My Department’s focus is primarily on employment creation in the enterprise sector. We are doing this through the action plan for jobs and have already seen the positive results of the action being taken across the whole of Government to support the enterprise sector to sustain existing jobs and create new ones. The enterprise development agencies, under my Department, are at the forefront of implementing the action plan for jobs.
I asked the Minister specifically for the specific projects he has planned for County Donegal under Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-2016. The Minister is spending approximately €500 million in capital under that programme in the coming years. He made no reference to any project in his answer. He barely referred to the capital investment plan. With due respect, all I got was a load of waffle on the specifics of the question I asked. Could the Minister give me clear answers to my question? What specific projects, if any, does he plan for Donegal under the capital investment plan for 2012 to 2016? If he cannot tell me of any, am I to take it that there are none planned?
There are three projects in particular on which I want an answer: the Letterkenny to Lifford link and the A5 dual carriageway; the Bunnagee link in Letterkenny, linking the east side of the town to the Milford area; and the Corkhill bridge in Buncrana. Those three projects are ready to go. Are there any plans on those? Does the Minister propose to spend any of the budget in County Donegal?
Deputy McConalogue has a total misunderstanding of the purpose of the capital budget allocated to my Department. It is to support enterprises that are growing. It is not available for road projects, which would have to be funded by other Departments. Perhaps the Deputy would direct his question to those Departments. We support Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland companies and micro-companies in their development. Last year we saw a 25% increase in two years in the number of people employed in IDA Ireland companies in County Donegal. That is a very significant commitment of additional resource by my Department to expand employment opportunities in IDA Ireland-sponsored companies. The proposals for enterprise development come from companies visiting and choosing to locate or grow, or Irish-owned companies starting up or developing. Those are the main vehicles for capital allocation spending from my Department. A significant portion will go to Donegal.
The Minister has a plan for 2012 to 2016. It is the capital infrastructure development plan. I am well aware that other Departments are involved in road projects but I am putting those as three specific projects that could help create jobs. I have asked the Minister if there is anything in his plan that could assist the county.
So far, all we have got from the Minister is generalities. Apart from generalities, what specifically does he plan to do to aid job creation in the county?
The truth is I cannot build roads. I do not have the authority to do so nor can I fund the building of roads. While I am sure there is great merit in the Deputy's proposal, I am not the Minister to do it but I can support enterprises. We have 14 IDA Ireland and 180 Enterprise Ireland companies in County Donegal. We will approach those companies in the coming year to see what their plans are for development. IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland will work to help those companies to develop business plans which can realise employment growth in the future. That is what the money we will allocate will be used for.
We will also set up the local enterprise network in County Donegal. It is a new collaborative approach between Donegal County Council, the existing enterprise board and Enterprise Ireland. Those are initiatives we will take to help grow new businesses in County Donegal. That is what my capital allocation is used for, and yesterday's results show the impact of that. We have 58,000 extra people working in this country which includes a substantial increase of almost 10,000 in the north west. The work we are doing is having an impact on the Deputy's region as well as on every other region in this country. He must, however, address infrastructural issues of a wider nature to the Ministers responsible.
9. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of new jobs created by Industrial Development Agency Ireland in County Donegal in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50564/13]
This question is more specific in terms of the figures for County Donegal, in particular in regard to the IDA Ireland. Will the Minister give details of the number of new jobs created by IDA Ireland in County Donegal in 2013?
The Forfás annual employment survey reports on job gains and losses in companies supported by the industrial development agencies. Data are compiled on an annualised basis and is aggregated at county level. Figures for 2013 will not be available until the end of the year. In the two-year period, 2010 to 2012, inclusive, the total employment numbers in IDA Ireland client companies in Donegal increased from 1,633 in 2010 to 2,228 in 2012, an increase of more than 25%. Increasing the FDI employment level over the period against the current global economic climate reflects positively on the importance and resilience of IDA Ireland's client companies in Donegal.
In 2013, IDA Ireland has had a good flow of site visits to the county by prospective investors. There are 14 IDA Ireland-supported companies in Donegal employing 2,228 people in full-time and part-time employment in software development, systems development and medical technology. Companies, such as Pramerica and UnitedHealth - PacifiCare - which have located in County Donegal are continuously growing and recruiting. Current full-time employment for the three largest employers in Letterkenny, namely Pramerica, UnitedHealth - PacifiCare - and Zeus is 1,495 people.
County Donegal's industry base is transforming and it is a successful location for high-end manufacturing, mainly to companies in the medical technologies sector. IDA Ireland actively engages with its existing base of companies in Donegal, highlighting the ongoing importance of upskilling and reskilling and the need to add high value activities in order to ensure sustainability and ongoing development.
Another focus for IDA Ireland in County Donegal is the designated linked gateway of Letterkenny-Derry. This focus involves developing stronger economic links with Invest Northern Ireland, which includes initiatives like the north west business and technology zone, NWBTZ. This zone is aimed at promoting the linked gateway of Letterkenny-Derry in line with the Northern Ireland regional development strategy 2025.
Northern Ireland Science Park's plans to establish a satellite campus in the linked Letterkenny-Derry gateway at Letterkenny Institute of Technology CoLab and Fort George in Derry is a further positive development and will assist in the marketing of the location.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
Other positive developments include the delivery of project Kelvin to Letterkenny. Project Kelvin is a joint initiative between the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation in Northern Ireland to supply a direct international telecoms connectivity project under the INTERREG IV programme 2007-2013. The project provides a direct international telecoms link from the north west of Ireland to North America via an onshore link to the existing transatlantic submarine telecoms cable. This service enables Letterkenny to have access to the same international services as found in major cities worldwide. Prices are commercially attractive and are benchmarked against international locations with 20% reductions. The pricing mechanism will remain in place until 2018.
I welcome the fact we are seeing an increase in the number of jobs created at national level. The 58,000 jobs created in the past year are very welcome. That is the way we all want to see our country move. We want to see more people getting back to work but since 2011, we have seen unemployment grow in the Border region. The figures out yesterday show that in the Border region, unemployment has gone from 14.6% to 15.2%.
In regard to the jobs created last year, is the Minister in a position to give a breakdown of how many of them were in County Donegal? The Minister indicated in his reply that the jobs created in County Donegal were in existing IDA Ireland companies. That shows the potential of County Donegal and of companies which have set up there to grow. However, under this Government the story of new IDA Ireland companies coming to County Donegal has been very poor. We are not getting our share of the new investments. In regard to new investments, what has been the performance of the Government since it took office?
As I said, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland numbers are collected by way of a survey of those companies and they will not be available until later in the year. The survey results from the CSO, which has nothing to do with my Department but which were published yesterday, cover groups of counties. It does not break it down by county. However, the Border region, which includes County Donegal, saw an increase of 9,500 people at work, which is a considerable reversal of previous trends. In the previous 12 months, figures showed a decline of more than 12,000. The trend in the Border region has been very significantly turned around in the past 12 months.
IDA Ireland seeks to continuously develop new and existing business. Approximately 70% of all IDA projects come from expansions. The Letterkenny Institute of Technology has been particularly successful in building an interconnection with those companies I mentioned, namely, Pramerica, UnitedHealth and Zeus, and they have been continually expanding, which is encouraging.
There has also been an encouraging flow of site visits which is the lead indicator of new projects coming to County Donegal. It is an area which has considerable potential and I can assure the Deputy that we will continue to work on it. It has been helped by project Kelvin which, effectively, gives not only competitive but international telecom links which are as good as anywhere in Ireland.
The encouraging stream of site visits by IDA Ireland to the county, to which the Minister referred, was a total of one in 2012. There have been four visits this year. Unfortunately, under his leadership, there have been very few site visits and little new investment in the county. The Minister pointed out that companies there continue to expand but those companies are already there. We need to get our share new investment. The Government committed to 50% of that being outside the Dublin and Cork areas but we are not seeing it in our county.
The one key thing the Minister has done since coming to office is that the Letterkenny IDA Ireland office, which used to be the hub for the north west in terms of attracting new investments, has been moved from there, which has been detrimental. Will the Minister up the performance? We need to see a fair share of new investments coming to the county as well as depending on those 14 IDA companies to expand their job numbers.
The Deputy was a member of the party which was in government previously. We have secured a 25% increase in the number of people working in IDA Ireland companies in the past two years. That contrasts with the situation under the previous regime of a reduction of approximately 33%. This is a strong performance and the Deputy needs to recognise that. I do not think he should be bad-mouthing the efforts of IDA Ireland or the county because the county is doing well and it has a strong infrastructure which we vigorously promote. The Deputy needs to recognise that this is a successful performance by IDA Ireland-----
The county has the highest unemployment rate in the country. The county is not doing well.
-----in developing companies. Much work is being done and more work will be put into this but the progress must be acknowledged.
10. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the impact departmental budget cuts in 2014 will have on job and enterprise creation agencies and their ability to deliver existing programmes and commitments. [50482/13]
Like all Departments, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will have to work from a reduced budget next year. This question relates to the impact that reduction will have on the ability of job creation agencies to carry out their work, particularly in the context of some of the multi-year plans that have been announced.
Arising from Budget 2014, the 2014 Exchequer allocation to my Department and the agencies under its aegis has been set by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform at €781 million. This allocation comprises a current allocation of €339 million and a capital allocation of €442 million. Individual allocations across my Department and its agencies will be presented in early December as part of the Revised Estimates Volume. It is expected that Exchequer capital allocations, together with capital carryover and reinvestment of income generated by agencies, will maintain job and enterprise creation agency allocations broadly in line with 2013 expenditure. This will facilitate the continued delivery of a range of enterprise and research and innovation programmes, which are crucial in achieving a return to economic growth and the generation of sustainable jobs across the enterprise base, from micro-scale enterprise to the largest multinational.
These measures will deliver a range of improvements in 2014. The House has been given details of the IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland targets, the investment in mentoring and the establishment of the local enterprise offices. Two new large and internationally visible research centres are being funded by Science Foundation Ireland in sectors of national strategic importance. Continued support is being given to more then 20 world-class Science Foundation Ireland research centres and to a cohort of 3,000 researchers to maintain and drive Ireland’s job creation strategy. I will not go through all the details. Budget 2014 will also enable the continued delivery of almost €2.5 billion in new non-bank credit schemes, some of which we discussed earlier. These schemes will target the full range of businesses from micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises to mid-sized Irish exporting businesses and high-growth technology firms.
I would like to ask the Minister about two areas. I will focus on the first of them in this part of my supplementary questioning. The Minister mentioned IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland in his reply. He said earlier that those agencies will be aiming to create approximately 24,000 net jobs next year. A report published in October was critical of the loss of a number of key personnel from Enterprise Ireland. It has been unable to replace them because of the ban on recruitment. The Minister is aware of the importance of Enterprise Ireland, which is being given extra roles and responsibilities as part of the roll-out of the local enterprise offices. It is being given that additional workload at a time when key personnel who have departed are not being replaced. How confident is the Minister that Enterprise Ireland can continue to play a vital role in job creation, in light of the enhanced roles and responsibilities I have mentioned and the departure of a number of key personnel from the organisation?
Unfortunately, the agencies operating under the remit of my Department and every other Department are being reduced in size. That is the reality within which we are working. There have been reductions of approximately 15% in staff numbers. Departments and agencies have been required to seek to work in a smarter way by reorganising their activities. Enterprise Ireland has been particularly flexible in seeking to reallocate staff resources to areas of priority and responding to the changed environment in which it must operate. Obviously, there is pressure to continue to operate with the reduced staff numbers. Enterprise Ireland's performance in recent years is testimony to its success in doing that. The approach we are pursuing, which involves building collaboration between the local enterprise offices, Enterprise Ireland and the local authorities, is helping to extend the reach of all agencies at a time of diminishing staff resources for all of them. We have to think outside the box as we try to deliver with a reduced staff resource.
I thank the Minister for his reply. Has he discussed with the Minister, Deputy Howlin, the possibility of lifting the embargo on recruitment to allow Enterprise Ireland to fill the key positions that are currently vacant? I am led to believe that the budget of InterTradeIreland will be reduced by approximately 4% per annum over the next three years. This means there will be a cumulative 12% reduction. As the Minister is aware, InterTradeIreland plays a key role in cross-Border trade. There should be a focus on the potential for job creation and increased co-operation between North and South regarding business start-ups and enterprise. In fairness, the Department has done that. Obviously, this type of budgetary reduction will have an impact on its activities. In a reply to a recent parliamentary question, the Minister said he was confident that InterTradeIreland could continue to fulfil its role. It is increasingly difficult to see how that might happen, however, in light of the level of budgetary reduction being faced by the organisation.
There has been a 17% cut in the Department's promotional budget. As I said earlier, there are many schemes but there is very little awareness of them. Who will fund the local enterprise offices? Will the ability of the offices to promote schemes and to get the message out be supported by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government or by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation?
A number of questions have been asked. We have received agreement from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to fill some key positions in Enterprise Ireland. There will be ongoing discussions between his Department and my Department on how the capacity of Enterprise Ireland might be developed against a background of resource constraints. Clearly, we will continue to find plans that will help to deliver this in an effective manner.
I am confident that InterTradeIreland can continue to deliver. It has been very successful. I think it will be able to continue to manage its well-established programmes within the resources available to it. There is a good level of take-up of these successful programmes, which are having an impact.
Under the service level agreement between Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise offices, I will be funding the offices' activities that fall into the enterprise sphere. We will continue to fund the existing staff, the grants and the initiatives being taken by the local enterprise offices under their mandate. As the Deputy knows, we are bringing the local authority business units into those offices. They will deliver services together. The local authority business units will deal with planning and other service issues that are of concern to businesses. Under the service level agreement, we will be part-funding the delivery of services through the local authority network. That is the funding mechanism that will be used.
