Jimmy Deenihan
Ceist:9 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment when he intends to put the proposed county enterprise boards in place.
Ceisteanna-Questions. Oral Answers. - County Enterprise Boards.
Austin Deasy
Ceist:16 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment when the proposed enterprise boards will be established; the nature of their structure; if he will ensure that there are separate boards for Waterford county and city; and the finance which will be made available nationally, on an annual basis to finance these boards.
Martin Cullen
Ceist:25 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the progress, if any, he has made to date in setting up the county enterprise boards; the number which are operational; the resources, in terms of staffing and finances, which have been provided; the current status of the regional tourism organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Eamon Gilmore
Ceist:47 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment when the county enterprise board for Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown will be established; when it will be functioning; the finance which it will have available to it; and when local enterprises can begin to apply to it for assistance.
Jimmy Deenihan
Ceist:51 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment when he intends to put the proposed county enterprise boards in place.
Ivor Callely
Ceist:71 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the total funding envisaged for the enterprise partnership boards on job creation; the funding which has been received to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 16, 25, 47, 51 and 71 together.
Details of the establishment procedures, structure, staffing and funding of the county enterprise partnership boards, as then proposed, were set out in the previous Government's statement of 1 October 1992 and in the Taoiseach's replies to parliamentary questions on 7, 14 and 21 October, 1992 and 3 and 4 November 1992.
Responsibility for the boards was transferred to me at the end of January 1993. Administrative tasks associated with the transfer of functions are in hands, as is a review of the proposals under the headings cited above.
Under the terms of the Programme for a Partnership Government the county enterprise boards will be empowered to seek funding to assist local development, the start up of small enterprises, the promotion of tourism, and to establish community employment schemes in consultation with community organisations, the social partners and the public sector at local level.
One of the primary goals of the boards will be to assist enterprise creation leading to increased employment. The new boards will also have a significant role to play in tourism promotion at country level. In consultation with the relevant interested parties, including the Minister for Tourism and Trade, especially as regards the co-operation of arrangements with the regional tourism organisations, I am considering the steps to be taken to achieve that goal. To date one county enterprise board has been set up; that is in Galway. I would expect that the boards will be established during the course of this year.
The Minister said the boards will be empowered to seek funding and do I take it from that that funding will not be provided by the State? Is there provision in this year's Book of Estimates for funding for the county enterprise boards? In Question No. 16, I asked the Minister if he will set up two boards in Waterford, one for the city and one for the county but he did not allude to that in his reply.
I shall reply to the second question first. The original announcement did not provide for more than one board in County Waterford. As I indicated, I will reconsider, in consulation with my partners in Government, the application and operation of all the county enterprise boards. In that regard I am aware of the representations and the concerns that have been expressed by Waterford County Council and Waterford Corporation. In regard to the Deputy's first question, the enterprise boards as envisaged will not only be empowered to apply for and seek funds in their own right from financial institutions but it is the intention of the Government to make capital and operational funds available for them. The details will be made known in due course.
We are getting to the bottom of this so-called brainchild of the Taoiseach that I, for one, do not see operating. Would the Minister accept that the difficulty with small industries is that they want decisions made as quickly as possible in order to gain access to funds to get on with their business? What strangles most of them is that by the time they go through the bureaucratic system the business has failed. No money was provided in the Estimates specifically——
Ceist, a Theachta.
Would the Minister agree that there is a difficulty in that no money was provided in the Estimates? He is suggesting that somehow, throught the IDA or some other mechanism——
I am still awaiting a question.
I am coming to the point of the question. Would the Minister accept that there is no funding available for county enterprise boards to do the job they were supposed to do in the first instance? Would he further agree that the Culliton recommendations on the regional boards is where the answers are to be found? Would he accept that the original premise on which the county enterprise boards were founded was totally unworkable? Will he now look at an alternative that will be given power, authority to take decisions and funding? Would he accept that is not the case in respect of the proposed boards?
I share the Deputy's impatience with the crisis of unemployment and his desire to ensure minimal constraints and criteria associated with bureaucracy so as to facilitate instant development, if that is possible. There are lessons to be learned from the impatience of that approach. One does not have to go much further than Tipperary to see that. We have, therefore, to tread very carefully in respect of how we use taxpayers' money in this regard. I do not think anybody has a recipe that can be used instantly in every town, county or province.
I accept that.
What might work for Waterford might not necessarily work in the larger urban areas. What might work for an area that has a coherent identity, like a SFADCo region, would not necessarily work in an inner city community such as Deputy Gregory referred to.
I want, with the help of my colleagues in Government, to find an appropriate mechanism that safeguards taxpayers, interests on the one hand and facilitates as quickly as possible, the promotion of employment at local level. The single dominant factor, and the repeated request to the committee of which we were both members over the past number of months, was access to reasonable amounts of equity capital without the onerous undertakings and personal guarantees which are sought currently. That obstacle has to be removed as quickly as possible but with legitimate safeguards. That is why I have to give the replies I have given. I hope the next time I am here for Question Time I can be more forthcoming.
I am calling Deputy Barrett.
I have a brief question.
The Chair must be obeyed. I have called Deputy Barrett and he shall be heard.
Would the Minister confirm that the three new county councils in Dublin could each have their own enterprise board and also that Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council will have its own enterprise board in view of the fact that it will cover a population of approximately 190,000?
I am aware that the enterprise trust, the body set up by the employers associations and organisations, has taken steps, if not already implemented, to establish a potential enterprise board in the Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown area. I would welcome such a proposal because there is undoubtedly a need for such an enterprise board. I am not sure the Deputy was here on a previous occasion when his constituency colleague, Deputy Gilmore, debated this matter with the then Minister of State, Deputy Treacy. It is clear that in the Dublin area there is need for two kinds of board. There is need for an integrated Dublin board that sells Dublin in the manner that SFADCo sells the mid-western region while, at the same time, there is obviously a need, given the scale and physical size of the Dublin region and local loyalties, to have a series of local boards operating within that framework. I would be more than happy to discuss with the relevant four local authorities in Dublin how best to achieve that objective.
Is the Minister aware that there is extreme scepticism between the councillors, local authorities and council officials in relation to these enterprise boards? In the mid-west region SFADCo have a specific mandate for community development and small enterprise and cover a broad span of local authority regions. Would the Minister, therefore, foresee unnecessary duplication and more confusion in relation to potential industries and employers? Would he not agree that the whole idea appears to be hare-brained and may not necessarily be desirable at present?
If the Deputy is indicating to the House that the mid-western region is sufficiently well served and he does not particularly want any of these boards, I am sure there are other areas that would accept them. No doubt his colleagues will be able to indicate that.
Duplication, Minister.
Just send the cheque; leave out the bureaucracy.
We are concerned.
Unlike my colleagues on the opposite side of the House, I believe there is great potential for these enterprise boards. This innovation will help job creation on a parochial and regional basis.
Is Deputy Callely answering questions?
I have put down Question No. 71 on this issue.
(Interruptions.)
Deputies, please desist. This is Question Time.
Another Minister.
The Minister indicated that one board was set up.
I thought the Minister had enough help.
There are three Ministers in the Department at present; there is no need for a fourth Minister.
Can the Minister clarify what funding has been received to date and what is the total envisaged for job creation under the enterprise boards?
The question to which the Deputy refers may well be No. 71 in his name which is down for written reply. We are dealing with questions for oral reply now. That is not to say that the Deputy's questions should not be asked.
I indicated in my reply that I was taking Question No. 71 with the others. The moneys that would be made available are a matter for Government and will be announced in due course. I trust the Deputy will be satisfied with the potential for development which will be revealed.
May I belatedly thank the Minister for his trenchant support in the House, and on television, of my remarks that these were a humbug and represented the worst kind of parishpump politics, that they were open to abuse by local politicians and would be used for dispensing lollipops as political favours? Can I ask if he continues to share my views in the trenchant manner he expressed on that television programme?
He is in a different seat.
He is here in a different capacity.
When I expressed the very pertinent remarks to which the Deputy refers I did not realise that I would have such a unique opportunity to correct the deficiencies in the scheme.
The only difference is that the Minister is over there now and not over here.
Just shift the goal posts.
Having been given the democratic mandate to so do, I intend not to waste the opportunity to reduce the level of unemployment here.
(Interruptions.)
(Laoighis-Offaly): Without intending to——
(Limerick East): Embarrass the Minister.
(Laoighis-Offaly):——upset Deputy Rabbitte——
Impossible.
(Laoighis-Offaly): Looking at the other end of the spectrum in relation to the contribution of local authorities, will the experience which they have accumulated through their responsibility for county development and the existence in many local authority areas of county development teams be taken on board in a more substantial way in the setting up of the remaining county enterprise boards?
The answer is effectively, yes. The experience varies from locality to locality but I do not think we should be in the business of either duplicating successful organisations on the ground or, so to speak, throwing the baby out with the bath water. Every Deputy, particularly those whose parties participated in the Oireachtas Committee on Employment, recognises the very strong demand for participation of a meaningful kind that exists throughout the country. We are trying to find the appropriate mechanisms that will reach out and harness that energy.
And create meaningful jobs?
That disposes of questions——
On a point of order, I wish to clear up something. Earlier Deputy Rabbitte stated that the then Minister for Industry and Commerce, the now Taoiseach, gave a commitment in 1987 to speedily introduce a consumer credit Bill. The Official Report of 7 April, column 1431, shows that there was a lengthy debate on that subject vis-à-vis the Department of Justice and the Department of Industry and Commerce but that there was no idea or any commitment of any timescale given. I wish to put that on the record of the House.
That disposes of questions for today.
I have the record with me. On a point of order, my word has been challenged on this matter. Am I permitted to quote at Question Time in order to correct the impression that——
We have passed Question Time.
The Chair allowed the Minister——
(Limerick East): The Deputy is in order now.