Mr. Seamus Mulconry:

When he examined the social enterprise sector, Mr. Frank Flannery, who is not much into do goodery, concluded that there is job creation potential there. This is coming from a fairly hard-bitten businessman. In Dublin City University, meanwhile, the hottest courses are on social enterprise. A new generation is coming through the education system whose members have a genuine interest in social enterprise and the talent to make it happen. If we can persuade the system to make a few minor changes to facilitate that talent, we will see significant job creation potential. It will require building a different economy to the one we had during the boom, which, after all, did not work. Social enterprise has a role to play in that effort and in providing, to steal a phrase from a leading supermarket, real jobs for real people. We are not talking about jobs that are only suitable for people in a white coat with several degrees; these are real jobs in local communities that will allow people to make a contribution not only through their work but through their involvement in those communities.