Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that the Deputy is talking my language. It is exactly what we need to do. There is a history in Ireland of companies growing to a certain ceiling and then effectively getting bought out by large global brands. Entrepreneurs make a significant amount of money cashing out and then looking to set up another business. In the enterprise strategy, we want to see many more Irish companies push past that ceiling and get both the financial supports and other supports that they need to become large multinationals themselves. There is a big ambition in the enterprise strategy to do that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a business where people work incredibly hard, get an attractive offer and want to cash in on their hard work, but we want to persuade more companies not to take that tempting offer and instead to build a global brand out of Ireland.

Some sectors have been successful in doing that, particularly the food sector, including companies like Kerrygold, Glanbia and Carbery. They are extraordinary success stories internationally in becoming Irish multinationals. CRH is the same. We want to see more of that. We are starting to see it in the tech space too, where Irish companies are starting to grow and expand. They are resisting the temptation to be taken over and are looking to build global names that can continue to go on past that €40 million, €50 million or €70 million valuation to employ potentially thousands of people in the future, expanding their footprints both at home and abroad. Enterprise Ireland is focused on trying to take companies on that journey and, if necessary, investing in them, and helping them to get past venture capital funding. Companies hit a funding pressure when they reach a certain size, where they require significantly more capital to make the next jump.