Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 December 2004
63 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans he has to review the eligibility criteria for funding from county enterprise boards; if he will provide additional funding to efficient county enterprise boards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33587/04]
View answerWithin the past 12 months my Department, through Forfás, commissioned a review of the role and functions of the CEBs in the development of micro-enterprises. Fitzpatricks Associates conducted this review and it involved consultations with all relevant interested parties. The review represents the most comprehensive examination of the role and functions of the CEBs since their inception over ten years ago. The review was considered appropriate against the background of the major economic changes that have taken place in Ireland over that period.
The review largely endorsed the activities and operations of the CEBs. It concluded that there is justification for continued State support to micro-enterprises and that the CEB network can continue to play a useful role in the overall national enterprise development policy. The review recommended that in providing assistance to micro-enterprises CEBs should focus more on economic, rather than social or local development, objectives; that there should be a renewed focus on the core enterprise mission; that the issues of potential dead-weight, displacement and duplication should be more systematically and rigorously addressed and that there should be a move away from grants to repayable finance as well as to soft supports.
As funding for the CEBs is provided by the Exchequer, through the National Development Plan 2000-2006, support for the development of micro-enterprise as offered by the CEBs must operate within the parameters laid down in the relevant operational programmes of the national development plan, NDP.
The current NDP specifically states that there will be a progressive shift, over the lifetime of this NDP, from providing direct financial assistance to other non-financial supports such as advice, mentoring, and management development. As a result, where finance is provided, this is increasingly in the form of equity and refundable grants. In addition, the CEBs will continue to give priority to manufacturing and internationally traded services companies, which over time may develop into strong export entities.
In determining the allocations for individual city and county enterprise boards, CEBs, this year, my Department adopted a systematic approach to ensure the maximum degree of objectivity and equity of treatment. This approach involved the provision of a basic allocation to each board as well as an additional allocation that was determined mainly by population but which also took account of issues such as unemployment, capacity to spend, existing commitments and regional spread. My Department recently reviewed the level of funding available to the CEBs for the current year with a view to identifying funds which individual boards were not in a position to spend this year and to reallocating such funds to other boards who were in a position to utilise additional funding.
With regard to the issue of efficiency my Department, in partnership with the CEBs, continually monitors and evaluates the level of service provided by the boards to their client base. There is both a formal procedures manual and operating agreement in place between the Department and the boards to ensure that the efficient delivery of services by all CEBs is standardised across the country.
