County Enterprise Boards (Dissolution) Bill 2013

There is a certain criticism that with this move we will subject businesses to the dead hand of a bureaucratic State. That is an unfair assumption, and we never hear it aired with regard to the work of Enterprise Ireland. Local authorities have a vested interest in successful local business, not least in that they should be able to pay rates. Local authorities are not as secure as they would have been in the past from the cold hand of the market and knowing exactly what it is like to be in business.

 

There was some criticism of the move in the Seanad, where it was characterised as a sort of mad and mindless rush to abolish, merge or eliminate agencies, or quangos, as they are sometimes rather insultingly called. It is true that after the economic collapse people wanted to tear down everything, which is perfectly understandable. Some bodies needed to be torn down, but less is not always best. I am not an absolutist when it comes to mergers, and sometimes there is a case to be made for keeping stand-alone organisations with a single focus. Nevertheless, when we consider the vast panoply of State bodies, there is the inevitable conclusion that not only could many be merged but that a significant number had outlived their usefulness and the purpose for which they were set up, so they needed to be axed immediately. One would wonder how it had escaped notice that a body’s raison d’etre had entirely disappeared or that there was duplication, with other bodies absorbing functions or replacing them, and yet the bodies seemed to continue for years.

This is needed. It is delivering on a Government commitment to rationalise State bodies. It is the second Bill to have been brought before the House recently to merge bodies. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, is to introduce a roads Bill next week to merge the Railway Procurement Agency with the National Roads Authority. In neither case is it fair to say the legislation is merely delivering on an election promise for the sake of it. The Bill before us makes sense not only because it will result in a more cost-effective way of delivering services but also because it will deliver a more effective service. That is what matters and it is the only criterion. The network of stand-alone enterprise boards with no mechanism for co-operation, cost sharing or the sharing of expertise should not really have been set up and structured as it was. It is timely that we correct that mistake and necessary that we do so.

It is a little unfortunate that the Title of the Bill includes the word “dissolution”. That word has many negative connotations, although the legislation represents a really positive move, bringing about badly needed reform on which people should look positively.

Following the earlier Government decision to improve the system of delivering State supports to micro-businesses and small businesses, there were many possible approaches that could have been adopted. The method chosen €“ the retention and enhancement of local input, with a link to Enterprise Ireland €“ represents an inspired decision. The new system retains local knowledge but within the context of all the other local services provided by the local authority, while at the same time allowing businesses to gain access to the vast experience and expertise of Enterprise Ireland and other relevant bodies.

The local enterprise boards will provide a much enhanced and more comprehensive system of delivering State supports to micro and small businesses. They will provide access to all the State business supports and bodies, ranging from Microfinance Ireland to the Revenue Commissioners. That is a huge boon for small businesses which in the past would simply not have had the capacity alone or with the county enterprise boards even to become aware of State services, much less gain access to them. I am not saying this to criticise the city and county enterprise boards which have done excellent work for almost 20 years, but it is now time to change the structure of supports for small businesses which are the lifeblood of the economy, locally and nationally. They employ seven out of every ten people employed and are just too important not to be nurtured in the best possible way. They are too important not to be facilitated in gaining access to all of the State’s business services and for us not to recognise the importance of a really supportive entrepreneurial environment for indigenous businesses.
 

The local enterprise boards will be a first-stop shop for new business start-ups, but they will also provide ongoing development services which are often crucial for businesses if they are to survive the difficult early years. Later, the involvement of Enterprise Ireland will be vital in allowing small businesses to grow and move seamlessly towards direct Enterprise Ireland services.
It has been remarked a couple of times that if there has been a gap in State services, it has been in helping small, established businesses to make the leap to become medium-sized or bigger. The new framework should help to address that issue. During the years we have heard reports on the Minister going all around the world and the work of the IDA in attracting inward investment. They have been tremendously successful, but it is sometimes easy to forget that Irish firms employ more people in the United States than US companies that employ Irish people here. We sometimes undervalue our own businesses. Irish firms operating in the United States are big employers, but I wish to highlight the potential of indigenous Irish firms and show that when they survive the early years and make the leap to the next level, they can keep growing without boundaries and become major international companies.

I commend the work of the county enterprise board in Dún Laoghaire €“Rathdown and hope the staff will find a happy home in the local authority setting. I hope the move will not result in the loss of any of the motivation and dedication displayed by the staff during the years. With most Members, I am mindful of the difficulties associated with change and the challenge it presents for everybody, but this very strategic change will prove worthwhile from all perspectives.

Others have touched on education which is important to the future of Irish business and employment. Those who will be doing the leaving certificate examination in June have been through an education system that is pretty much the same as it was when I went through it, which was not recently. We really need a strategic change in support for business, but we also need to start earlier in preparing people for what is a totally new business world. I have examined training in places such as Switzerland and Germany and noted that we really need to consider strategic change in Ireland. We should prepare young people for what is a totally different business world and jobs environment. I refer not so much to plumbers and electricians who featured in the past but to those who must work with all of the technological advances. People coming out of school today should be prepared for a totally different world., but that is an issue for another day. I hope this considerable, strategic move will support the changes we are debating.