Mr. Tom Hayes:

If I miss out on many points I ask the Senator to revert to me. I will respond to the last point first. We do respond where there are closures or where there is what we euphemistically call downsizing. This is usually in the case of larger companies. I will not list any of the names. Where there have been significant closures, we have worked with other Departments and the IDA to help to identify whether there are other projects of relevance. As a consequence of some of the closures and downsizing, there have been some very good spin-off developments. We have helped by way of feasibility practices but obviously the people in question know the businesses best. There is a cry or clamour when a large company closes because of the number of jobs involved but the Senator makes a very valid point that we should consider the resurrection of very small companies. Perhaps given the new circumstances associated with the local enterprise offices, we should pay more attention to this issue. Every single job matters.

With regard to fostering the culture, the Senator is absolutely correct. All the international indicators point to Ireland being among the most entrepreneurial societies on earth. The reality is that we hold up very well when benchmarked, and various international reports suggest we are very entrepreneurial. The most recent GEM report suggests that, in the areas of medium to high technology, we are ahead of the EU and OECD averages. This, in itself, indicates our position. It is borne out by some of the figures I listed on high-potential start-ups. These are significantly ahead of many of their European neighbours.

A programme covering the new local enterprise offices, which we want enhanced, concerns secondary education. The earlier that one inculcates the spirit of entrepreneurship, the better. The programme for second level run by the county and city enterprise boards should be encouraged further. Each county will have considerable opportunities in this regard. The authorities can work with the local secondary schools, ICA, ICMSA, IFA or GAA. They should be able to work with all concerned in local communities to encourage people to work for themselves and start businesses as opposed to just looking for work somewhere else.

There is significant involvement in the area of funding research within third level colleges. There are two programmes leading to some outstanding successes. The first is the Think Outside the Box programme. This year, there were over 350 applications north and south of the Border from teams of students in third level institutions. We have encouraged the cross-fertilisation of ideas so people in sciences and engineering can work with people doing business. The best teams involve the cross-fertilisation of functions. We have been running this programme for a number of years. Up to the past year or two, many students have seen it as a rite of passage, or another project. The students would have gone to Australia or sought a job afterwards but they are now much more serious in that they are starting businesses. Out of the ten finalists this year, six are beginning to commercialise their projects and one is in the pipeline as a high-potential start-up. There are some excellent ideas. There is much greater willingness to develop a business as opposed to just doing a project for the sake of doing it.

The other programme is the New Frontiers programme under the enterprise platform programme, with which some of the members will be familiar. The enterprise platform programme was largely educational and the entrepreneurial business development side was relatively modest. We have completely reformulated the programme. There are nine programmes on their way to the 13 IOTs. The last to start is in the Carlow-Waterford region, and it incorporates 15 business ideas. There will be 150 in total. We hope that, after six months, 100 new businesses will start up as a consequence of the programme. We have been very impressed with the quality of candidates.

I was in Waterford Institute of Technology in recent weeks making a presentation. We ensure that we espouse our views in the third level institutions and encourage students to start up businesses, undertake feasibility studies, participate in the New Frontiers programme or obtain a Think Outside the Box award.

On regional development, every single region and county is important in terms of retaining and increasing the number of jobs. Our remit is primarily associated with Ireland Inc., in which it is important to have jobs. I often ask parents whether it would not be better to have their sons or daughters working in Galway, Dublin or Cork as opposed to Dubai, Sydney or Perth. It is important that we consider the issue from a national perspective in the first instance.

Last week was the week of the Dublin Web Summit. The reality for the companies in question is that Dublin will be the primary focus of their investment because it has the appropriate ecosystem. This does not in any way suggest we do not wish to support businesses throughout the country. We have supported over 100 community enterprise centres, practically in every county. This year, we supported 37 business development managers. I will be addressing these managers next Friday as they will be coming to our office for a conference. It is a question of trying to encourage them to develop their businesses locally.

Our competitive feasibility scheme was targeted specifically at the regions. We had a pilot programme in the south-east and received over 40 applications. Yesterday, I received information from our manager in the west, where we had a similar programme in respect of which there were 46 applications from teams and individuals. The applications were from Galway, Roscommon, Leitrim and Mayo. With regard to regional development, that is our fourth roll-out. Our final programme will be rolled out in the midlands over the coming weeks.