Priority Questions.
99 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will provide a State backed loan guarantee system to encourage banks to lend to small and medium enterprises and to exporters of all sizes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5349/10]
View answerLast week, I confirmed that work is under way in my Department on examination of a possible scheme of loan guarantees for the SME sector. This is in line with one of the recommendations in the Mazars report on credit availability. As I also made clear last week, there are significant issues to consider before any final decision can be made. For example, we need to be certain of the extent to which any scheme would assist SMEs, if a scheme would actually result in an increase in total lending and if the cost of borrowing by SMEs under such a scheme would not prove prohibitive. A properly tailored and targeted scheme could prove successful in assisting viable companies secure credit that they might not otherwise obtain.
Enterprise Ireland and Forfás have examined loan guarantee schemes in the UK and in some other countries. Forfás, together with the Department, is carrying out a further examination and on completion of this work, I will bring the results before the Government. We will need to ensure that any scheme developed assists businesses directly, while safeguarding the taxpayer.
The Tánaiste is really taking her time on this issue. We are probably two years into a recession at this stage and great numbers of small businesses are closing. They are closing because they cannot get credit. The Government rushed into a bank guarantee overnight. It rushed the NAMA legislation through the Houses, yet it has taken almost two years to decide whether we will have an SME loan guarantee. There are 200,000 small businesses in the country, employing 800,000 people. One of their biggest problems is that they cannot get working capital. They are able to get new loans, but they cannot get loans turned over nor can they refinance. That is the core issue.
It seems that there is a row between the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance and their Departments. She wants to do this but he is not permitting her to do it. Is there a dispute between the two Departments? When will the Tánaiste make a decision on this? Will we have to wait until the upturn before there is a decision?
I am not having any row with the Minister for Finance, nor is there any row between both Departments on the issue. We have looked at several initiatives on how to stabilise some of our companies, such as the stabilisation fund and the subsidies scheme. We have also introduced other interventions to keep people in work. We have set up a credit supply group in my Department, in which we have had a greater working relationship between the representatives of business and banks.
One of the recommendations of the Mazars report was to investigate the possibility of a loan guarantee scheme. Other member states introduced such schemes and the impact of some of them on the SME sector has been negligible. We are taking a broader perspective on schemes that have worked and I am taking the UK scheme into consideration, as well as the schemes that were recently set up in Chile and the US.
I do not accept the claim that we are slow on this matter, given that risk analysis has to be undertaken to protect the taxpayer. Having said that, there is a common view held on all sides of the House that there continues to be difficulties in accessing credit, and this is one of the other initiatives that will be considered. I hope the analysis done by Forfás and Enterprise Ireland will soon be available to the Department.
It is the Tánaiste's job to make decisions on these matters. Britain made its decision on the enterprise finance guarantee more than a year ago at this stage.
That did not work.
Nobody in this House under estimates the Tánaiste's capacity to commission reports, to appoint task forces or to ask agencies to study things. What we doubt is her ability to make decisions and to make them correctly and in a timely manner. When will we have a decision on this? The enterprise finance guarantee has been brought into the UK and it works. The British Government guarantee is a small portion of the loan which will ensure that the banks are prepared to extend credit to small businesses. When will the Tánaiste stop commissioning reports, appointing task forces and make a decision on this matter?
The matter has not come to me for final decision. I will make the decision immediately after the work has been done. The best performing schemes have been those in which there was no subsidy. There is a 15% subsidy in the UK scheme. The UK introduced a number of initiatives that fell through and I will not invest time or taxpayers' money in schemes that will not work. I do not want to create an expectation that is well beyond the remit of any loan guarantee scheme, but the work is almost complete and the matter will be brought before the Government for consideration and final determination very soon.
100 Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps she is taking to address the problem of youth unemployment in view of the fact that recent Central Statistic Office figures showed more than 84,000 persons under the age of 25 years on the live register; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5050/10]
View answerThe statistics for 31 December 2009 show that the numbers signing on the live register stood at 423,600 and that of these, 84,398, or 19.9%, were people under the age of 25.
The Government is committed to tackling unemployment, including youth unemployment. In successive budgets, we have allocated substantial additional resources to provide increased training and education and work experience places for the unemployed. My Department will provide approximately 147,000 training and work experience places this year, primarily through FÁS. This compares to the 66,000 places that were delivered in 2008 and the 130,000 places delivered last year. Around 30,000 trainees, or 36% of those who participated on the FÁS training programmes in 2009, came from the under 25 age group. FÁS training provision for those who are under 25 will remain a priority for 2010.
For early school leavers, the main specific provision continues to be training at community training centres and VECs under the Youthreach programme. There are currently 6,000 places available nationwide under the Youthreach umbrella. The programme is directed at unemployed young early school leavers aged 15 to 20. The programme provides basic skills and work experience, while facilitating early school leavers with opportunities to acquire certification and progress to further training or employment.
Another initiative is the work placement programme, which prepares the unemployed for future job opportunities. This programme is aimed at providing nine-month work experience placements to the unemployed. The programme consists of two streams each consisting of 1,000 places. The first stream is for graduates and the second stream is for all others, with 250 places ring-fenced for those under 35 years of age. The response to this programme has been disappointing, and we have asked FÁS to prioritise its promotion during 2010.
In addition to the range of training and work experience measures, the Government introduced certain initiatives in the recent budget to encourage people under 25 into education or training.
Additional information not provided on the floor of the House.
The Government decided that unemployment benefit will be reduced to €100 per week for those aged under 23 and to €150 per week for those 23 and 24 years of age. However, should these individuals participate in full-time education, training and work experience programmes, then they will receive the full normal weekly allowance of €196. Along with this decision, an initiative was put in place to activate immediately 18 to 19 year olds, instead of waiting the usual three months for this automatic activation.
The budget also announced a new labour market activation fund, which will be for innovative proposals over and above mainstream training provision for the unemployed. This activation fund will focus training on the low skilled and those in structural unemployment, including those formerly employed in the construction, retail and manufacturing sectors. Priority will be given to those under 35 years of age and the long-term unemployed. It is expected that the fund will provide at least 3,500 training places this year. A call for proposals will issue shortly, and this is expected to lead to increased education and training provision this year and to assist young people currently unemployed.
It is 30 years since Pope John Paul said in Drogheda, "Young people of Ireland, I love you." I would like to parody that for this Government and say, "Young people of Ireland, we have no interest in you." That is the message going out to young people. No coherent or focused strategy has been put in place to tackle youth unemployment. The only thing the Minister for Finance did in the budget was reduce their social welfare payments. Let us not fool ourselves with answers that are designed to conceal rather than reveal.
Are we going to nurture and encourage those young Celtic cubs, who are educated, innovative and well skilled? They are crucial to recovery, so what are we going to do for them? They feel as if the Government has deserted them as a group. Is the Minister of State satisfied that we will lose a generation of people? Are we happy to go back to losing young, skilled, innovative and motivated people? The budget was a real "downer" to them, because it offered little or no hope.
In a recent study carried out by a youth organisation on young people, 60% of those surveyed indicated that they expected to be unemployed after completing their education. There has been a 150% explosion in youth unemployment in the past two and a half years. It is having a negative impact on young people. Where are we going? What about the work placement programme? There are 1,000 places, with 250 geared for people under 35 years. Does the Minister of State agree this is a pathetic response to a problem that will not go away? It will get more serious unless we tackle this in a coherent way, with a strategy to deal with youth unemployment.
A range of other measures, apart from those mentioned by the Deputy, are included in the budget. This includes an activation fund of €20 million targeted at those under 35 years. We will call for proposals from the private sector for this in the coming weeks. This is specifically designed for that particular age group. We are committed to increasing the opportunities available in the work experience programme during 2010 if there is sufficient take-up. I point to the record take-up of third level courses and opportunities. This is not just an Irish problem. It affects the entire EU and was the focus of discussions at the Employment Council in Barcelona last weekend. It will continue to be the focus at EU level during the Spanish Presidency until the end of June.
Are we living in cloud cuckoo land? We are the only economy that has failed to put in place a stimulus package. Some €100 billion has been spent in the United States, with much of it allocated to education and creating employment opportunities for young people. Why do we think we are so special that we do not have to embark on that route? Why do we think we are different? When will we get rid of the barriers in respect of time limits and restrictions for the back to education allowance? This is nonsense. If young people want to get back into education, why not let them do so? How many additional places are there in the vocational training opportunities scheme, VTOS? The Minister of State is sincere and he is here as the mouthpiece of the Government, comprised of 15 Ministers gathered around the Cabinet table. We are fed up with being fobbed off. We need proper, focussed policies. Unless we design a stimulus package, we will come back in 12 months time with the problem accentuated and galloping away. I am extremely worried. Youth unemployment is a timebomb and we should get someone with a unified, co-ordinated strategy for this.
The budget includes a €12 billion capital programme this year and €135 million will be spent by this Department in guaranteeing 80,000 jobs. I agree this is a problem and I would be delighted to engage with Deputy Penrose in respect of the specific responses of the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment to this issue.
101 Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if the recommendations of the recent National Competitiveness Council report aimed at promoting innovation will be implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5350/10]
View answerThe renewed programme for Government, adopted in October 2009, recognises the importance of productive public investment in research and development and sets a target of achieving a national research and development investment target of 3% of GDP. We believe the significant infrastructure investment underpinning the strategy for science, technology and innovation over the period to 2013 is central to economic recovery. The commercialisation of our research investment and the generation of a strong reputation for higher education and research, as well as output of quality graduates at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, will allow us to build a sustainable enterprise base underpinned by productive innovation activity across the economy. The recommendations in the recent report of the National Competitiveness Council that are aimed at promoting investment in research, development and innovation are welcome as they coincide with our policy goals and a number of specific initiatives taken by Government as we seek to develop the knowledge economy.
The council's report focuses on measures to enhance the productivity of Irish exporters. To that end the council makes recommendations on prioritising Government research and development spending with strong industry relevance; co-ordinating public investment in research and development through development of a single stream of funding for science research, which is undertaken by my Minister of State; reviewing the research and development tax credit; and developing intellectual property competencies.
With regard to prioritising Government spending, the decision in budget 2010 to allocate almost €600 million to science, technology and innovation priorities of Departments reinforces the Government's commitment to science, technology and innovation as a productive investment for the future and an engine of economic growth. Our goal in 2010 and the immediate future is to leverage the investments made to date in research and development in order to return investment in terms of jobs and exports while consolidating what has been built and to secure it in the long term. In the budget, and looking forward to future years, we reoriented the focus of the spend on science, technology and innovation. The tripling of the public investment in science, technology and innovation over the past ten years concentrated on building infrastructure and productive human capital development. The reorientation of investment is now focused on deriving maximum commercial benefit from the sunk investment to date.
The NCC also made a recommendation for enhanced metrics to assess the efficiency of the public investment across the science, technology and innovation space. In 2009 a number of high-level indicators were agreed to monitor progress in implementation of science, technology and innovation and these are being updated on a rolling basis. I have also asked Forfás to review these to establish if it is possible to develop reliable metrics relating to exports, sales, employment and import substitution as these outcomes are an important outcome of science, technology and innovation investments.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
The NCC report welcomes the introduction of a single stream with effect from 2010 for public science, technology and innovation investment. The intention to create a single funding line for the science, technology and innovation aims to enhance the efficiency of science, technology and innovation expenditure and enhance the State's ability to re-prioritise the public investment consistent with resources, with identified areas of science and with potential applications to support and develop the Irish economy. Consistent with the financial statement of the Minister for Finance last December the single funding stream will be referenced in the 2010 Revised Estimates and will feature as a distinct item in the Estimates of future years.
Research and development grants, the research and development tax credit and the patent royalty exemption together form a suite of measures aimed at encouraging, supporting and promoting research, development and innovation within Ireland as essential features of the knowledge economy. Rebuilding our competitive advantage will depend on a strong performance in these areas from both indigenous and foreign business. It is a priority for us that Ireland remains a competitive location for investment that leverages RDI for product development. The Government is committed to ensuring that we will maintain our international reputation and attractiveness as an excellent location in which to build or locate RDI activity. This suite of measures will be kept under ongoing review to ensure that we maintain this position, and we look forward to consideration of any proposals in this area from the innovation task force which is due to report shortly.
The forthcoming report of the innovation task force has a focus on the development and coherence of our IP system such that there is a clear and consistent national policy on IP and rules for the ownership of and access to State-supported IP. To that end my Department, with Forfás, has conducted a review of the suitability of ownership and licensing arrangements so that this can inform the ITF recommendations, and implementation of these. In framing these recommendations regard will be had to the work and experience of the technology transfer offices run by Enterprise Ireland in each of our HEIs, and to international best practice.
The funding for Science Foundation Ireland, €179 million in 2009, was reduced to €165 million in budget 2010. Enterprise Ireland's capital funding spending was reduced by €126 million and the science budget of the Department of Education and Science was reduced from €256 million to €150 million. There has been a severe reduction in the spending on science, technology and innovation. This requires that spending should be more focused, which is part of the recommendations from the NCC. Spending should be focused on bringing products that are near to market for commercialisation. I did not hear the Tánaiste refer to how she is directing State agencies working in this area to target this type of funding to ensure it leads to job creation and development of new products and those that are near to market.
Under the chairmanship of the Minister of State, Deputy Lenihan, a process was undertaken to examine the overall spending on science, technology and innovation in all Departments. On that basis, we saw a 7% overall reduction targeted at the commercialisation aspects and the potential of that spend. One of the issues raised 18 months ago was how we can provide a metric to see that. Under the chairmanship of Mr. Lionel Alexander we set down a number of parameters in which this could be achieved. That work is now being done. With ten years of investment in science, technology and innovation we are behind some other countries. On that basis we frontloaded much of the spend. We will also continue to invest in working with EU programmes in the delivery and drawdown of further expenditure.
The task at hand is to embed the technology and use the expertise we have to commercialise. That is the focus of State enterprises. In the spend for foreign direct investment purposes through IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland we have seen a seismic change in where people are investing. It is moving towards research and development. That is where the jobs are. Creating opportunities for that commercialisation is strategic in what Enterprise Ireland is doing in supporting new ideas and concepts and bringing those to market.
Can the Minister publish those results and metrics so that we can see how things have changed and how the shift towards commercialisation has come about? That is important. Can the Minister comment on the NCC and its comments on credits for research and development? Rather than having an emphasis on foreign companies and the benefitgoing to headquarters that may be abroad, there should be a re-focus on indigenousindustries and Irish owned companies to ensure that benefits from tax credits remain within the country.
I agree that we want to achieve a situation where we can take a thought process and commercialise it. We can do this through indigenous companies, which have done very well. Last year there were 70 HPSUs and the target is for another 70 next year through Enterprise Ireland and its supports. The innovation task force will come to the Taoiseach fairly soon and that will examine new ways in which we can develop innovative ways to support research and development. The tax credit is of great importance. The development of intellectual property in this country is new and different. In the context of tax policy we are working on refocusing our offerings for foreign direct investment or for indigenous companies. The clear message is that if we work towards economic growth and potential thereof, the collaborative work between third level institutes, those involved in business and the Government is of great importance. Science Foundation Ireland is looking at new innovative ways in which this can be expanded. We need a matrix, to see where the spend is and whether it will provide jobs. It is fine to spend the money but if we are not in a position to analyse its worth, we would be failing in our duty. The matrices are being set down on that basis. Any information available will be given to the Deputy.
102 Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to review the new work permit scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5351/10]
View answerIn the first half of 2009, my Department completed a review of employment permit arrangements, the purpose of which was to ensure that such arrangements continued to be appropriate to the needs of our changing labour market. Following the outcome of consultations with the social partners and other interest groups, a number of changes were implemented for non-EEA nationals applying to enter the Irish labour market under the work permit and green card schemes from 1 June 2009, including provision for those employment permit holders who are made redundant.
The arrangements included the refusal of almost all work permit applications where the applicant foreign national is currently outside the State; the removal of some categories from the green card list — these included construction and engineering categories; a 50% increase in fees at renewal stage for new first time employment permit applications from outside the EEA; and a strengthening of the labour market needs test for new first time work permit applications.
Currently, employment permit holders constitute approximately 1.2% of the total labour force. The numbers of permit applications and consequent numbers of total employment permits issued, including both new and renewal permits over the past year, have been showing a consistent downward trend from 13,500 in 2008 to 7,900 in 2009. New permits issued have also fallen from 8,500 in 2008 to 4,000 in 2009. Most new permits issued in 2009 were for non-EEA nationals already working in the State who wished to change jobs.
My Department will continue to keep employment permit arrangements under review to ensure that they remain suitable and relevant to current labour market conditions. As before, the views of relevant stakeholders and interest groups will be taken into account in this ongoing review process.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It seems the Minister of State is washing his hands of this issue, considering he completed the review in the early half of 2009 and he seems to be satisfied with it. Is it not the case that it took him almost two years into the country's economic collapse before he actually reviewed the existing work permit rules in place up until June 2009?
While I accept that the majority of new applications issued may be for people already in the country, can he explain how it is that approximately one third of all the permits issued last year were new work permits but, in 2006, approximately one quarter of all work permits issued were new work permits? I argue the situation should be the exact opposite. Given that 85,000 additional young people are unemployed since this Government took office in 2007, and that 185,000 people became unemployed last year, is the Minister of State not concerned with the trend of those statistics?
The new arrangements have been in place since last June and I will be happy to review them again this June as I think one year is a suitable time to allow them to become embedded.
As I outlined, we have considerably restricted the classes for which work permits may be issued. The Deputy may be referring to the green card scheme under which permits are issued on the basis of demand. I will check the figures and revert to the Deputy with the analysis.
I accept that some of these permits being issued are new work permits for people who may have fallen out of the system — it is important that such people are given legitimate status — and for people who may be leaving one employment for another in the same sector. However, new employment permits are still being issued in the agriculture and catering areas and in the domestic and services industries. Many of these permits are for low-skilled jobs. A total of 185,000 people lost their jobs last year. Is the Minister of State not concerned about the proportion of new permits being issued compared to 2006? One would imagine that there would have been far more new permits, proportionately, issued at a time when the economy was expanding? Will the Minister of State carry out a review to ensure that the people currently residing here, whether Irish or non-Irish, have the opportunity to gain employment and be taken off the live register?
As part of that review, we considerably strengthened the labour market needs test so that jobs seeking a work permit had to be advertised through FÁS and in the national newspapers to ensure that the hidden way of advertising them in the past was done away with. I am happy the labour market needs test is strong enough to support the new applications issued. Many Deputies approach the Department regularly to try to get support for various work permits, particularly in the catering industry as we become more specialised in our tastes as a country and in the way the industry is responding to those tastes. I am happy with the current labour market needs test and I will consider a further review.
103 Deputy Damien English asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on the problems that companies looking to develop physical products, such as a new computing device for international markets, from inception, research and development, tooling manufacture and to packaging development and so on, are encountering when trying to source early stage capital funding between €1.5 million and €10 million such as the fact that the funding requirements of up to €10 million are too big to attract angel investors, that the business expansion scheme is capped at €1.5 million and that they are too early in the product development stage and therefore perceived as too high a risk for development capital venture capital investors; the solutions she is prepared to put in place that will alleviate these shortcomings for such companies looking to bring physical products to the market; the resulting job opportunities for this State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5352/10]
View answerThe availability of venture capital for start-up businesses is a very important issue. While my Department has addressed the issue of the availability of capital for early stage businesses in a number of ways as I will outline, there are certainly continuing challenges in relation to raising finance for new businesses. These include the fact that fewer people now have discretionary funds available for investment in early stage and other businesses due to the effect of the downturn on personal wealth. The raising of larger amounts of money for capital intensive projects is particularly difficult and requires greater success in getting overseas co-investment in Irish companies.
I am fully aware that a dynamic and healthy venture capital market is a prerequisite for the growth and development of high potential start-up companies in Ireland. Over the past 16 years, Enterprise Ireland has focused on stimulating venture capital funds in order to promote the availability of this important source of funding for companies that would have difficulty raising capital through traditional sources of finance. It has undertaken initiatives that have led to the creation and development of a vibrant Irish-based venture capital industry.
To date, Enterprise Ireland has been involved in three seed and venture capital programmes, through which support for venture capital funds has been undertaken by means of investment as a limited partner with other private investors on a pari passu basis. The management of these funds is in the hands of private sector venture capitalists who take investment decisions on a fully commercial basis.
Under the EU seed and venture capital measure for 1994 to 1999, some 15 separate venture capital initiatives were established, with €43.9 million committed under this programme. The first of these initiatives was launched in May 1996. Under the 2000 to 2006 programme, Enterprise Ireland committed €98 million to continue development of the venture capital market for small and medium-sized enterprises in Ireland. This programme committed capital to 15 funds.
The 2007 to 2012 seed and venture capital scheme was launched to promote the availability of funding for companies at both early and growth stages of development and to further develop the seed and venture capital industry in Ireland. Enterprise Ireland has committed to investing €175 million under this programme. Out of the overall allocation of €175 million, Enterprise Ireland has, to date, committed investment to ten funds. Of these, eight funds, with a total size of €525 million, have commenced operations. Two further funds with a total size of €150 million remain under negotiation.
I understand from data published by the Irish Venture Capital Association in its publication, Venture Pulse 2009, that in the first three quarters of 2009, approximately €220 million was invested by syndicates of investors, including Enterprise Ireland, in Irish small and medium-sized enterprises. Of the 61 investments made during that period, 57 were of a value of less than €10 million, representing a total of €120 million of the overall funds invested. A total of 23 of the 57 investments were in the range of €1.5 million to €10 million, totalling €94.7 million.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply and for acknowledging that a problem exists. He did not really discuss the solutions but rather described the current situation. I wish to make clear that a problem exists in the venture capital market in the case of companies with a physical product which need funding of between €1 million and €10 million. Enterprise Ireland can only give up to a total of €500,000 in these cases. I accept that Enterprise Ireland invests in certain funds but only 12 venture capital funds are operating in this country and it is not enough for real competition. Hundreds of companies miss out on the opportunity because the existing venture capital funds cherry-pick. Will the Minister of State give a commitment to ring-fence up to €400 million or €500 million to specifically aid companies in the early stage of product development? I know of a company which missed out in that Enterprise Ireland could only offer it €200,000 a year over three or four years. Such companies need Enterprise Ireland to come on board quicker and to put up the money first and not to say such companies will get the money after they have secured a venture capitalist.
The Government and its various organisations must offer support to entrepreneurs. The reality is that risks must be taken if jobs are to be created. However, several companies have contacted my colleagues and me to point out that Enterprise Ireland is, in some cases, acting as a filter rather than a funnel. As I said, funding must be ring-fenced and the allocation for the business expansion scheme, currently capped at €1.5 million, should be increased. For the first three years or so of a company's operation, unlimited investment should be allowed in respect of the business expansion scheme. What we are all ultimately about is job creation.
I assure the Deputy that encouraging increased venture capital funding is one of the Government's main objectives. That is why the innovation task force, of which I and the Taoiseach are members, is tasked primarily with examining this issue in the context of our announcement under the smart economy framework initiative to create a €500 million innovation fund. The task force is expected to report to the Government before mid-March on the best approach to take in terms of securing venture capital funding. It is important to note that Ireland is not alone on this issue; governments throughout the European Union are experiencing difficulties in enticing United States venture capitalists to invest their money on this side of the Atlantic. It is an issue that is vexing Ministers throughout Europe.
It is important to emphasise that while Enterprise Ireland's funds are small, they are also vital.
I recognise the important work done by Enterprise Ireland. My point is that funding is insufficient to meet the needs of the businesses to which I referred.
It is an essential element of the equation. A paradox of the success of Enterprise Ireland is that many venture capitalists outside Ireland will not invest money in small and medium-sized enterprises on this island unless the Enterprise Ireland label is associated with the fund. In many cases, such investors are not merely seeking matched funding but also assurances that the State is involved.
The Minister of State has made my point for me. In some cases Enterprise Ireland makes it a condition of its assistance that a company must first secure venture capital. It should be the other way around, and that is a simple matter to review. Second, the Minister of State said that the report of the innovation task force is due in a month. There is no room for delay in terms of action; we have already lost out on opportunities for job creation.
The reality is that this problem is unique to Ireland as a small market seeking investment by venture capitalists. As I said, there are 12 funds and the best prospects are being cherry-picked while many others miss out. Will the Department seek to discover from Enterprise Ireland and other bodies the names of companies that were refused assistance? This problem also applies in regard to enterprise boards. It is all very well to talk about how successful we are in offering support to business, but what about the companies we have been unable to help? We have a duty to help people who are coming forward with new ideas and to encourage them to take risks. The Government must find ways of matching that investment, through the business expansion scheme and by facilitating venture capital investment specifically for the early stage development of products. That is where the problem lies and time is of the essence in tackling it.
I reassure the Deputy that the encouragement of venture capital funding is the centrepiece of the work of the innovation task force. It is important to emphasise that as well as early stage companies, the innovation fund will also look at the issue of scaling up. The Deputy and others have suggested that start-up and early stage companies are where we should concentrate our efforts.
The early stage is the problem. Once a company is in operation it has a good chance of attracting funds. Attracting the funding to become established in the first instance is the difficulty.
There is also a significant issue in terms of how we attract venture capital and innovation funding into companies that have the potential to scale up and become global operators. It is not just about early stage funding; it is also about how we support strong indigenous companies in scaling up.
May I make a final brief comment?
That is not possible as we have already gone over the time for priority questions. We must now proceed to take the next question in ordinary time.
My point is that the main problem is in securing early stage funding. That is the difficulty.
I ask the Deputy not to talk over the Chair.
The Minister of State is missing the point.
That may be a calamity but there you are. The time for priority questions has been exceeded by more than two minutes.
