Mr. Martin Shanahan:

Deputy Kyne asked about the impact of the action plan. It is very difficult to say. One of the arguments made by Forfás at the outset of the action plan is that all these actions need to be done, whether big or small. Sometimes it may seem unwieldy when the actions are set out but they are all important for business by making it easier for business to do business and ultimately to create private sector jobs.

The JobsPlus initiative was introduced during 2013. The take-up of such an initiative is immediately evident. The reaction has been very positive and much more positive than for the preceding schemes. It is evident that we are going in the right direction. Some actions are not always successful and it may be necessary to review and change them. Other areas where there has been a direct impact are areas such as ICT skills. There was a significant focus on ICT skills in 2013. We can see the output from the programmes coming on stream now. Jobs are available for those people who have completed those programmes because there is a shortage of skills in those areas.

The legislative commitments in the action plan are equally important although it takes time for them to work through. The action plan is all-encompassing and there will be a continued focus on certain areas. One would expect a continuing focus on competitiveness, costs, productivity, research and innovation, support for small and medium enterprises, and foreign direct investment. These are the stock-in-trade of the enterprise agencies and on which they will need to continue their focus in the 2014 action plan.

The Deputy referred to broadband provision. The Department is responsible for enterprise and Forfás is the enterprise body. We are continually in discussion about how to improve broadband services and provision. The current action plan includes a commitment on online trading. A trading online pilot scheme has been running in 2013 and a further pilot scheme will be beginning in the next month and the scheme will be rolled out during 2014, with a view to getting a significant number of companies trading online. Undoubtedly this is an expanding market area.

With regard to the rural economy, the action plan addresses the entirety of the country and does not exclude any area. There are multiple enterprise supports such as provided by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. Enterprise Ireland has a suite of enterprise supports which are available throughout the country. The local enterprise offices will be established and will provide another layer of support. All these layers together will impact on rural development and development outside the main urban centres.

We are conscious of the need to help those areas make themselves attractive for enterprise. There is scope for leadership at a number of levels, including at local level. The provision of advance infrastructure such as factories is part of the support.

Deputy Collins has worked closely with Forfás last year on the aspect of mentoring and entrepreneurship. We hope to publish the outcome of that work in the very near future. It has been very informative to hear the views of businesses and we will build on the work done by the Deputy.

Forfás published a report on social enterprise during 2013. We identified scope for a significant development in the area of social enterprise and allied job creation. If we were to achieve a level of social enterprise relative to the rest of Europe, the number of jobs may be of the order of 25,000. However, it would require work on establishing the correct environment. Coherent governance was one of the issues identified. Since the publication of our report, the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, has been given responsibility for this area, supported by an interdepartmental group which is working through the various recommendations with a view to implementation. Bringing coherence in the first instance is a significant advance.