The Certified Public Accountants Ireland Entrepreneurship Report for 2012 was launched by the Taoiseach on 11 December 2012 and officials in my Department are currently examining the report in light of ongoing work on this issue at Department and EU level. The Deputy will be aware that my Department recently launched the Action Plan for Jobs 2013, which is a key element in rebuilding the economy and getting people back to work. This Plan has a specific section on driving entrepreneurship and start-up companies, and includes a commitment to publish a National Entrepreneurship Policy Statement.
To deliver on this commitment, a comprehensive work programme is being developed that will involve research and consultation with interested parties and relevant stakeholders and will include examination of the development of a national skills register. I will shortly be launching a public consultation as part of an assessment of the current environment for entrepreneurship activity. This focus on entrepreneurship is particularly timely given the work currently being undertaken to restructure the County Enterprise Boards and establish Local Enterprise Offices in Local Authorities to reform the system for delivery of support to start-ups and micro enterprises. The proposed National Entrepreneurship Policy Statement will complement this major reform programme, to ensure that the operating environment is more coherent, responsive and conducive to entrepreneurship.
Several Government Departments have a role to play in enhancing the entrepreneurial dynamic. Given the whole of Government approach to the Action Plan for Jobs, this is an ideal opportunity for a National Entrepreneurship Policy Statement to underpin the importance of entrepreneurship as an explicit policy priority for job creation. The Action Plan for Jobs also contains a commitment to implement a range of female entrepreneurship initiatives during 2013, as a follow-on from the programme for female entrepreneurs launched by Enterprise Ireland in 2012.
