Ms Una Fitzpatrick:

With the Irish indigenous tech sector, it is very interesting to note from the figures produced by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, at the end of 2019 that of the numbers employed directly in the ICT sector, nearly half are employed in the indigenous tech sector. Just over half are employed in the foreign direct investment ICT sector and just under half are employed in the indigenous tech sector. While their output in terms of tax and the level of exports is different, the employment numbers in the State are pretty much half and half. This is why we feel that the SME tech community often gets less focus than its foreign direct investment counterparts. We represent both and we feel it is an ecosystem and both sides of that ecosystem have to be supported.

What is needed is an ability to attract and retain talent. That is key for tech SMEs. Obviously, they have been in severe competition with the foreign direct investment community over the past two years. An unfortunate byproduct, or perhaps a fortunate byproduct, of some of the recent announcements may be the increased availability of staff to the indigenous tech sector. It is about high-quality tech skills and the ability to either upskill or attract in that talent from outside of the country. Issues such as visas and work permits can often come to the fore. It also involves supports for research and development. Companies often tell us it is so bureaucratic and burdensome to apply for a research and development tax credit, for example, that they do not bother because they would literally have to employ somebody to do that as a full-time job. Supports can be difficult to access for smaller companies and that can present as a barrier. We fully understand the rationale for procedures being put in place if large companies are availing of tech supports. However, it should definitely be made simpler and more straightforward for smaller companies.