Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 March 2015
20. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the progress made by his Department in developing and supporting entrepreneurship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11961/15]
View answerThe Government's National Policy Statement on Entrepreneurship in Ireland was launched in October 2014 and sets out the Government's strategic objectives as a facilitator within the Irish entrepreneurship ecosystem, covering the six key elements that impact on entrepreneurs and start-ups, and signposts the direction that policy will take in the coming years.
This Policy Statement represents the first time a Government has published a comprehensive national plan for entrepreneurship in Ireland. The key target contained in the plan is to double the jobs impact of start-ups in Ireland over the next five years. In order to deliver on this we must -
- Increase the number of start-ups by 25% - representing 3000 more start-ups per annum
- Increase the survival rate in the first five years by 25% - 1800 more survivors per annum
- Improve the capacity of start-ups to grow to scale by 25%
The National Policy Statement on Entrepreneurship is the Government's plan to deliver an ambitious but realistic increase in the numbers of start-ups in Ireland over the next five years.
The Government has set out a vision for Ireland to be among the most entrepreneurial nations in the world and to be acknowledged as a world-class environment to start and grow a business. To achieve the ambition, we will improve the key interlocking elements that impact on entrepreneurship and make up the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Ireland. These are: 1. Culture, human capital and education; 2. Business environment and supports; 3. Innovation; 4. Access to finance; 5. Networks and mentoring; and 6. Access to markets.
By driving implementation of the actions in the new National Entrepreneurship Policy Statement we will double the jobs impact of start-ups in Ireland over the next five years, from 93,000 currently.
The Action Plan for Jobs details a number of the immediate key actions to support the Government's ambition and confirms the commitment to continue to identify new approaches which will enhance and strengthen Ireland's entrepreneurial ecosystem and ultimately create jobs e.g. the Start Up Refunds for Entrepreneurs (SURE) scheme will add further support to start-ups to grow and develop their business. Actions are set out to expand reform measures to boost entrepreneurship across all areas of the economy and society.
The specific objectives for 2015 are to:
- Progress the actions from the National Entrepreneurship Policy;
- Utilise the New Frontiers Programme optimally to support emerging entrepreneurs;
- Continue to promote LEOs as one stop shops for small business; and
- Develop an action programme of support for pre-investment HPSUs.
I am personally driving and chairing the Implementation Group, comprised of senior officials from the key departments and agencies, charged with oversight and delivery of the actions set out in the National Entrepreneurship Policy Statement.
Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs continue to provide a comprehensive suite of supports to start-ups and established entrepreneurs. In the last few years Enterprise Ireland has supported approximately 500 new and early stage start-ups. These are ambitious companies, with innovative products and business development strategies that will enable them to carve out a place in global markets. The focus in the coming years is to continue to increase both the number of quality start-ups and to identify those start-ups with the ability to scale at an earlier stage. Taking these trends together, and acknowledging the intensive focus that will be placed on scale and gaining commercial traction, an ambitious target of 550 new and early start-ups supported by 2016 has been set. With 183 new and early stage start-ups supported last year, Enterprise Ireland is on track to achieve this ambitious target.
In addition the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) have been established and are now up and running as the First-Stop-Shop service supporting start-ups, business growth and jobs in the micro-enterprise sector. Some specific initiatives in driving entrepreneurship under the LEOS banner include the National Enterprise Awards, the Student Enterprise Awards, Women in Business Networks and the Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur competition (IBYE).
The first IBYE competition was launched in May 2014, with over 1,000 applications received by the 31 LEOs from entrepreneurs aged under 30. The nationwide competition formed part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014 with an overall investment fund of €2 million awarded between County, Regional and National winners. It is intended to run a second iteration of the IBYE.
Further information on LEO supports for business ideas can be found on the LEO website at www.localenterprise.ie.
The LEOs have continued to use Microfinance Ireland loan facilities to provide credit in this sector. By end 2014 over €6m in loans were distributed by MFI with 851 jobs supported in 413 businesses. In addition to this activity the Government budgets have had a specific entrepreneurial focus. Measures were introduced to aid cash flow, reduce the administrative burden of tax compliance and incentive job creation to name but a few. While many of the measures were small in scale their cumulative effect has been to improve the environment for business to grow and develop and create jobs. The work in each of these areas continues as does work on upgrading the Microenterprise Loan Fund Scheme and the SME Credit Guarantee Scheme on which I hope to introduce legislation to the House in the near future.
No one policy intervention will generate substantial impact on the entrepreneurship ecosystem, but various actions if taken together will combine to create greater synergies. The overarching National Entrepreneurship Statement serves to co-ordinate all areas of Government policy in the area of entrepreneurship to drive these synergies and will deliver on the targets I referred to above.
