John Bruton
Question:11 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on his remarks at the opening of the Enterprise Ireland exhibition on 3 October, 1997. [15472/97]
Ceisteanna—Questions. - Enterprise Ireland Exhibition.
I attended the Enterprise Ireland 1997 exhibition in the RDS on Friday last and the text of my speech has been released by the Government Information Service and has also been laid before the House.
In my address I commended the Small Firms Association on its initiative and success in organising the exhibition. I also thanked the commercial sponsors who had given their resources, both in terms of finance and expertise, to ensure the success of the venture.
I restated the Government's commitment to the SME sector, referring to the programme for Government and the commitments included there, for instance, in relation to reducing the administrative burden on enterprise, progressive reductions in corporate tax rates and more targeting of business supports.
I join the Taoiseach in commending this exhibition, which was the first of its kind to be directed at small businesses. It provided a range of information to help small businesses become large ones.
One aspect of the Taoiseach's speech concerned upgrading early warning systems to identify emerging difficulties in companies. Can he elaborate on this?
As the Deputy will be aware, for the past ten years or so we have managed to change the enterprise culture. We now have far more small businesses starting up. Regrettably, we still continue to have a high proportion of business failures. We are endeavouring to achieve far closer communication and co-ordination among all State agencies to assist companies in need.
There are a number of measures which will help them. Last year's Prompt Payments Bill is one, as is training, and helping them to structure their companies to move into export markets. For many years the small business sector has highlighted the fact that it is tied up in businesses, that these are often family businesses involving only one or two persons or a single person enterprise and that they are not available to take time off for training and other experiences, and that they need special assistance. That is what both the Tánaiste and I indicated at that conference. Having set up a high proportion of small industries, we must address the issue of assisting them in their development, particularly in the early years.