Mr. John Hughes:

The Minister has just launched a dedicated SME unit within the Department, which is driving the SME and LEO agenda. That is not comprehended by this legislation but is covered by the work of the SME unit and various initiatives, through LEOs and other supports, including the work on the cost of doing business that the Department is promoting. It is not comprehended by this legislation but initiatives in the Department in that area are being driven by the Minister.

On the IDA client base, it is worth recording that an Indecon study showed that for every ten FDI direct employment jobs, there are a further eight indirect employment jobs in the economy. With a little more than 300,000 jobs in the IDA client base, that is another 240,000 jobs in indirect employment. Many of those are in sub-supply chains and are SMEs. We have seen that over the decades in spin-outs and sub-supply from some of the large blue chip companies that are well known. It is not directly but there can be indirect benefits. Equally, there are initiatives to support the SMEs and LEOS. They are just not covered by this legislation.