Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the visitors. In terms of the public mind, generally the small companies get shouldered out of the limelight by the larger ones. When an announcement is being made about multinationals coming in, it is the first items on the news and newspapers and everybody is talking about it but the media tends to ignore the smaller initiatives such as those the representatives are promoting. I am aware they promote all of them but, in general, they get a bad press and do not get the kind of publicity they deserve. If there are ten companies which have five people each employed, that is 50. When all of those are added the figures are significant. There is a disparity of esteem about the operation, status and significance of the smaller companies.

I wish to give one example from my own experience in County Donegal. When Raidió na Gaeltachta was established in the peripheral areas of south west Donegal and north west Donegal, the Irish language was not considered a posh vernacular. Younger people, in particular, were indifferent towards it, despite schools and their best efforts. When Raidió na Gaeltachta was established it had a very significant impact on promoting the language. Once something was on the radio people saw it differently. They heard their tongue being spoken on the radio with very important matters, such as current affairs and sport, being discussed. It changed the psychology of people in the area to the extent that people thought that if the language could become important nationally, other things could be promoted nationally.

I know many younger entrepreneurs who have a great sense of get up and go to do things. Many small companies in the tourism industry organise fishing trips, mountain climbing and other activities using local resources that were underused or perhaps never used properly. The presence of Raidió na Gaeltachta has provided a very strong psychological impulse. Apart from the language, there are other things that are important. In other places such as County Donegal there are small but vibrant and important local industries which together have a great impact. That point struck me when the speakers mentioned that smaller businesses were as important in many ways as larger businesses that were in the limelight.