Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Not-for-Profit Sector: Discussion
2:35 pm
Mr. Seamus Mulconry:
It is a change of mindset. When this case is presented, there are very few who turn around and say they do not agree. However, I just do not believe they have seen it in this perspective. What they tend to see or hear, when they hear "social enterprise", is that this is all the do-good stuff, as if there are a couple of trees down the road and we will walk over and give them a hug, and we will be fine. That is not what this is about. This is about business. Social enterprises are businesses and they operate as businesses. They live and die as any other business would. That is the key. It is a mindset change. When people hear "social" in the term, they think it is charity and do-gooding. That is what we need to change.