Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

As is mandatory under the rules, we have put forward a position paper. Our success in achieving high employment numbers in recent years means there is an interest in our proposals. Our position paper this year will stress the significant employment gains in the small and medium enterprise sector. Recent reports have shown that approximately 250,000 small business employers have made quite incredible gains over the past seven to ten years. Many of the initiatives which grew out of the report on small business published some years ago have worked very successfully and should be taken on board.

From the point of providing assistance to small business, it should be acknowledged that small businesses have problems. They do not have the resources to apply for research and development grants and are unable to obtain the same kind of training grants. Allowances must be made for regulations and overheads. This has been included in the position paper. The importance of small business will be reflected in the report, as will the distinction between small business and medium-sized business.

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