Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2015
272. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to assist small businesses in 2015; his proposals in relation to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2635/15]
View answerSince coming into office this Government has had a clear focus on assisting SMEs, which make up over 99% of businesses in the enterprise economy in Ireland and account for almost 70% of people employed, to establish, expand and export, with a view to driving economic recovery and creating jobs across the country.
The 2015 Action Plan for Jobs, which will be published shortly, will again be the Government’s main focus for delivering for the SME community and will place the needs of small business at its core. This year’s Plan is strongly influenced by my discussions with small businesses and will include a commitment around the work of the Advisory Group on Small Business.
The objectives and actions set out in the Plan are designed to achieve specific impacts in terms of jobs, exports and startups, market penetration and innovation, efficiency of public sector interaction with business, finance and access to talent.
There will also be a new suite of Disruptive Reforms which will consist of significant projects requiring cross Government collaboration that can make a real difference to enterprise and jobs in a short space of time, for all businesses - small, medium and large. Areas for consideration for such disruptive reforms include talent, regional development, energy, finance, and intellectual property.
In addition, the various actions set out in the National Entrepreneurship Policy Statement, published in October 2014 will also be implemented. The Policy Statement contains 96 cross-Governmental targeted actions to drive improvements in the overall environment for entrepreneurship, thereby demonstrating our commitment to increasing the prevalence of successful, globally competitive and job creating startups.
Overall the reforms and initiatives included in the Action Plan for Jobs 2015 will focus on making it easier to do business and to create jobs in every part of the country. As a Government we will continue to maintain its focus on assisting SMEs to establish, scale and export in order to ensure that they continue to drive our economic recovery and create further jobs.
