Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 January 2014
106. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of new agencies and State bodies established since 9 March 2011 under the remit of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3349/14]
View answerThe following are the State Bodies/Boards under the remit of my Department.
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- |
State Bodies/New Agencies |
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1. |
Enterprise Ireland |
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2. |
IDA Ireland |
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3. |
Science Foundation Ireland |
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4. |
Shannon Development |
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5. |
County and City Enterprise Boards (35) |
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6. |
National Standards Authority of Ireland |
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7. |
Forfás |
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8. |
National Consumer Agency |
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9. |
The Competition Authority |
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10. |
Irish Auditing and Accounting Standards Authority |
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11. |
Personal Injuries Assessment Board |
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12. |
The Health and Safety Authority |
There is a substantial programme of reform underway within my Department in relation to Agencies and Offices. The Agencies under the remit of my Department that are scheduled to be merged, reformed or abolished are set out under the Government’s Agency Rationalisation Programme. These reforms include:-
- Merge the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority into one single entity.
- Dissolve the 35 County Enterprise Boards and transfer their functions to Enterprise Ireland to be delivered by Local Authorities in Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs). This will facilitate the delivery of an enhanced service and range of supports to the micro and small business sectors.
- Dissolve Forfás and provide for the transfer of the agency’s assets, liabilities and staff to my Department and other bodies, as appropriate.
- Transfer relevant enterprise functions from Shannon Development to IDA, EI and Bord Fáilte and merge Shannon Development with Shannon Airport Authority.
- Reform of the State's Workplace Relations Services to deliver a simplified two-tiered structure comprising a single body of first instance, the Workplace Relations Commission, and a single body of appeal, in effect an enhanced Labour Court.
In addition, I would draw the Deputy’s attention to the fact that, following enactment of the Microenterprise Loan Fund Act 2012, Microfinance Ireland was established as a private limited company in August 2012, as a subsidiary of the Social Finance Foundation and has charitable status.
Microfinance Ireland has been funded by the Government to provide loans to newly established and growing microenterprises across all industry sectors that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by banks.
