Mr. Niall O'Donnellan:

I will respond to the questions in the order they were asked, if that is okay. Deputy Ó Cuív asked about site ownership. Enterprise Ireland does not own any sites. When the two agencies were separated in 1998, it was decided that the IDA would run the landbank and that has continued. On behalf of our clients we engage on a regular basis with the IDA about opportunities and the need for space, such that that in itself is not an issue. In terms of serviced sites, there are some parts of the country where we have expanding companies that are under pressure in terms of acquiring available sites. The private sector supply is as yet unable to meet the scale, in terms of size, or the nature of the units required, in particular units for expanding food companies. This is an issue on which we are focused. We are working with the local authorities to develop a response, particularly in some of the key areas affected. That is part of our ongoing work at regional level.

The community enterprise centres continue to be an important part of our response and that of the local enterprise offices, LEOs, to local communities. I agree with the Deputy that while the question of serviced sites is a related issue in some cases, it is a separate issue. The second question was in regard to funding for start-ups. There has been a considerable amount of investment to seed funds. This has worked, particularly for the technology start-up companies. Outside of that sector, there is a need for some further different type of mechanisms, particularly for manufacturing and food start-ups. We are particularly focused at the moment on finding other ways of supporting start-ups. The Deputy is correct that the best option may not be venture funds but private equity or other types of funding instruments or groups such as business angels and so on.