Jobs: Small & Medium Enterprises 24th January 2013

24th January 2013 - Bernard Durkan TD

To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which research has been carried out to identify possible disincentives to job creation and retention of existing jobs in the small and medium-sized enterprises; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Bernard J. Durkan.

* For WRITTEN answer on Thursday, 24th January, 2013.

Ref No: 3675/13

R E P L Y

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Mr Bruton)

The development of appropriate policy responses to the current economic challenges is dependent on robust research and consultation with key stakeholders, which is undertaken on an ongoing basis by Government, the State Agencies and other independent bodies. In addition to work carried out by my own Department, Forfás provides independent and rigorous research, advice and support in the areas of enterprise and science policy. This work informs my Department and wider Government in its responses to the needs of the business environment.

Last year, my Department carried out research on the need for a Microfinance Fund to support start-up and expanding microenterprises, resulting the Government approving the recently launched Microenterprise Loan Fund. My Department also worked with independent consultants Capital for Enterprise in researching the need for, and developing, a Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme, which was launched last November.

Working with Forfás and key stakeholders, my Department is currently in the process of finalising reports on the Construction and Manufacturing sectors, as part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2012, which will highlight issues impacting on these sectors and set out recommendations to address these issues and facilitate these sectors in developing to their potential.

Forfas recently published a report – A Review and Audit of Licences Across Key Sectors of the Irish Economy. The key recommendation from the review is for the relevant licensing authorities to proceed towards the development of integrated licensing systems for retail, food and drink, hospitality and leisure and construction sectors to rationalise the number of licences and to streamline processes and therefore reduce the overall administrative burden on business.

The National Competitiveness Council reports on key competitiveness issues facing the Irish economy and offers recommendations on policy actions required to enhance Ireland’s competitive position. The most recent report while acknowledging an improvement in Ireland’s competitiveness identified a number of issues which need to be addressed in order to achieve sustainable, long-lasting competitiveness gains. Ireland must maintain focus on implementing a range of structural reforms across all sectors of the economy including issues relating to the labour market, competition policy, taxation, education and skills. The report also highlighted the importance of ensuring that our banking system is appropriately structured to provide an adequate supply of credit for enterprise.

The Department of Finance regularly commissions and publishes independent credit demand surveys which seek to identify and resolve issues around the availability and access to credit for small and medium sized enterprises. Arising out of the findings of the Mazar’s survey published in late 2011, the Minister for Small Business, Mr. John Perry, T.D., accompanied by the Secretary General from the Department of Finance, held a series of seven regional meetings around the country to discuss access to bank credit with key local stakeholders. These meetings gave rise to a whole series of positive actions to help small businesses to stay in business and create jobs.

I myself regularly meet with small business owners across all sectors and hear directly from them what further measures are needed in order to incentivise them to retain and create jobs. Also, as part of the preparation of the Action Plan for Jobs 2013 which is now nearing finalisation, more than 55 submissions were received, containing over 600 individual proposals for consideration. Many of these submissions made suggestions around how job retention and creation could be enhanced and where appropriate, ideas that were considered to be feasible for implementation this year have been taken on board in formulating the Action Plan.

Bernard Durkan TD

Kildare North

Bernard J Durkan is the Fine Gael spokesperson on Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. Originally from Killasser, Co Mayo,…

Jobs: Small & Medium Enterprises 24th January 2013

Bernard Durkan TD

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