Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I ask him to convey our congratulations to Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the LEOs. The numbers are truly astounding looking at the decade. In 2011, we had 300,000 people working in Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland companies and now we have 500,000. It is an extraordinary expansion in our export base. Most of them are very innovative and enterprising companies. That is the backbone of the progress we have made. The role of the public service in facilitating that needs to be acknowledged.

I acknowledge not only the five new workers' rights, but rights for the undocumented, a new focus on quality work through apprenticeships, a reform of the CAO system and innovative enterprises. We are at the foothills of a lot more expectation on enterprise, not only towards workers but also towards climate and the circular economy. I am interested in the Minister's views on how we ensure that those high-quality changes can be made by small business, the same as large. Many large companies stick on their brand references to having a low carbon footprint and all the rest of it by 2050 but this will be much more of a challenge for the small companies.

The Minister did not mention the circular economy. I know it is not everyone's cup of tea. However, it is much more meaningful than just looking at climate alone, but at the materials and processes used as well as the opportunity for repair and upgrade during the lifetime of the product, the patterns of use by consumers and the waste and end-of-life situation. Has the Department started to think more seriously about how we get that level of quality into the design of what we do in Ireland? In ten years, this will be the source of competitive advantage. The enterprises that can show that they have changed the impact of their entire supply chain will be the winners. I am interested in the Minister's view on that because one of the strengths of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland is that they have always looked around the next hill to see where the opportunities lie. I strongly believe that this is where opportunities will lie in the future.