10 Jun 2014, 14:11
The Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will focus on initiatives at a European and national level to support SMEs, foster an entrepreneurial culture and promote industrial innovation when it meets with Director General of Enterprise and Industry at the European Commission Daniel Calleja-Crespo, tomorrow, Wednesday 11th June 2014.
Committee Chairman Damien English TD said: “Since 1st February 2012, Daniel Calleja-Crespo is Director General of Enterprise and Industry at the European Commission. He is the Special Envoy for SMEs. We are looking forward to a productive and stimulating discussion with the Director General. Our meeting tomorrow is timely given our Committee’s focus over the past number of months on access to finance for SMEs. The availability of funding and supports are essential for many small businesses to get up and running, flourish, innovate and expand. Our meeting also follows on from the visit to Brussels in January as part of a familiarisation process with the various European Union institutions.
\"The European Commission's Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry has the mission to promote a growth-friendly framework for European enterprises. It has a key role in the Europe 2020 agenda of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Its flagship initiative is ‘An Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era’ which sets out a number of actions to improve the business environment, notably for SMEs, and to support the development of a strong and sustainable industrial base able to compete globally. We will be particularly keen to explore how Irish SMEs can harness the open market for goods in the EU and avail of various EU programmes to promote industrial innovation to generate new sources of growth and support the internationalisation of EU businesses.”
This meeting will start at 1pm on Wednesday 11th June 2014 in Committee Room 2.
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Committee Membership
Deputies: Dara Calleary (FF), Áine Collins (FG), Michael Conaghan (LAB) Damien English (FG) (Chairman), Mick Wallace (IND), Seán Kyne (FG), Anthony Lawlor (FG), John Lyons (LAB) (Vice-Chairman), Peadar Tóibín (SF).
Senators: Deirdre Clune (FG), David Cullinane (SF), John Kelly (LAB), Michael Mullins (FG), Feargal Quinn (Ind), Mary White (FF).