Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The situation to which Mr. Picard referred with regard to employment permits is something we will discuss. There are a range of views and all those will be taken into consideration by this committee and, indeed, all parties.

He referred to what might be classed as an underappreciation or lack of focus on the indigenous SME sector from Government, and the manner in which that is maybe hindering the creation of a balanced industrial mix; that jigsaw piece to which we referred. We agree on this. The sector has not received an equitable level of support to other comparable sectors.

In the opinion of the witnesses, what could be done to help indigenous businesses? They might agree that when we refer to that jigsaw, what is missing is an Irish enterprise agency that is needed to help domestically trading SMEs and micro industries to foster a more balanced industrial mix and help create a more robust economic base. It is those in the centre.