Mr. Michael Carey:

Scaling is probably the biggest challenge indigenous industry has. I have personal experience of investing in businesses and seeking to grow businesses to become businesses of real scale. The needs of businesses at that stage are unique and need to be responded to and supported. Some businesses are at the tipping point. They are already capable of becoming businesses of real scale and they need specific support. They employ 200 or 300 people and have revenues of hundreds of millions of euro and could become businesses that have a turnover of €1 billion and become major or significant international businesses that are Irish-owned and Irish-controlled.

The challenges include funding for that type of growth. EI can play a role, not necessarily in providing the funding, but in facilitating and supporting the fundraising process. Key customer engagement with major international customers is the sort of step change that many Irish companies need. EI is incredibly well positioned through its network to bring that sort of business to Irish businesses. Many businesses scale through acquisitions. EI can provide guidance, advice and support around how businesses can continue to grow through acquisition rather than being acquired, that is being the acquirer rather than the acquiree, and around finding solutions for funding in ways that retain control for the Irish business. There are lots of ways that can be done. There are lots of funding solutions and opportunities for businesses. They can do small scale initial public offerings, IPOs. There are funding solutions through existing sources of funding focused on Irish enterprise that can provide a basis to allow Irish businesses to continue to be controlled and owned here, while becoming businesses of real scale. It is probably the single biggest challenge we have in the indigenous sector. We need to have many more businesses with a turnover of €1 billion.