72 Mr. Cox asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, in relation to the membership of the new County and City Enterprise Boards, the number of members who have been significant enterprise or employment creators on a board by board basis.

83 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, in relation to the membership of the new County and City Enterprise Boards, the number of members who have been significant enterprise or employment creators on a board by board basis.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 83 together.

I refer the Deputies to my answer to Parliamentary Question No. 49 of 19 October 1993 from Deputy Cox in which I provided a full list of the members of the County Enterprise Boards and the organizations which they represent.

In May 1993, the Government agreed that city and county managers should be charged with the key task of identifying and nominating a panel of local decision makers who might serve as members of the boards. These panels comprised 14 members including up to four elected members of the local authority, representatives of the social partners at local level (IBEC, ICTU and farming organisations) identified by the relevant national organisations, and officers of relevant State development agencies (e.g. Forbairt, FÁS) together with community interests drawn from the voluntary sector (e.g. Chambers of Commerce, Leader Groups, Programme for Economic and Social Progress Partnership Companies and individual entrepreneurs).

In addition, specialist evaluation committees have been established to assist each board and to make recommendations on the most appropriate level and form of assistance for projects, having regard in particular to the prospects for attracting other sources of funding. These evaluation committees include persons with banking and accounting expertise and experience in assessing the quality, local relevance and cost-effectiveness of project proposals.