Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The EQUAL programme has provided co-funding to 43 projects over the programming period, one of which is the EMERGE project, which operates under the entrepreneurship pillar of the programme. The aim of the EMERGE project was to develop methodologies for the development and expansion of ethnic minority enterprises, EMEs and to assist EMEs in overcoming business obstacles within the regulatory and cultural environment.

The EQUAL programme is now coming to a close. The experimental approach of EQUAL has provided the opportunity to test new ways of integrating marginalised groups into the workforce, preparing them for the world of work and increasing the skills of those already in employment.

Innovation has been a key component and building block of the EQUAL programme and the EMERGE project has successfully developed innovative solutions to help respond to the specific needs of ethnic minority entrepreneurs. In November 2007, the project launched the report Harnessing the Potential: Promoting Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship in Ireland, which outlines the need to harness the potential of our ethnic entrepreneurs and to ensure that the required supports and training are in place. My colleague Deputy Brian Lenihan, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, addressed the launch and welcomed the key findings and recommendations of the report. Some responsibility for the subject matter and policy issues concerning participants in EMERGE lies within his remit.

The success of the EMERGE project under the EQUAL programme has resulted in mainstreaming of the EMERGE approach by the Fingal County Enterprise Board with the support of local state agencies. The Institute for Minority Entrepreneurship has taken on the EMERGE approach and Skillnets funding amounting to €350,000 has been secured for EMERGE skillnets.

It is clear there is great potential for fostering entrepreneurship among the immigrant population in Ireland. My Department welcomes the Harnessing the Potential report and will examine its findings and recommendations. The successful mainstreaming of EMERGE shows that the lessons learned from this EQUAL project will continue to be applied.

While there are certainly a number of issues which are specific to the immigrant population with regard to entrepreneurship, many of the findings and recommendations identified in Harnessing the Potential were addressed in both the Enterprise Strategy Group report of 2004 and the report of the Small Business Forum published in May 2006, both of which are in the process of being implemented.

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The Small Business Forum report placed particular importance on the development of the spirit and culture of entrepreneurship and recommended that the Government should adopt a national entrepreneurship policy focused on optimising the number of start-up businesses. It also recommended that there should be a particular focus on the stimulation of latent entrepreneurial potential, particularly among women and the immigrant community. My Department is committed to bringing forward a statement on national entrepreneurship policy in 2008.

One way of embedding an entrepreneurship culture in Ireland and meeting the recommendations of the Small Business Forum is through the creation of a national entrepreneurship week to mobilise the key stakeholders in the area and to draw public attention to the topic. My Department has secured funding to cover such a week as part of the 2008 Estimates process. The Department would see a national entrepreneurship week as targeting all latent entrepreneurial potential within the population, including immigrants. An additional separate national campaign for immigrants would needlessly duplicate such a process. The recommendation of the Enterprise Strategy Group supported the One Step Up programme, which is now FÁS's key programme for improving the skills of those in employment. This year the One Step Up programme has a budget of €46 million and is expected to deliver training to approximately 32,000 people. The programme is open to people of all ethnic origins.

It is clear that much has been happening to implement the recommendations identified in the EMERGE report and I anticipate that more will be done in the near future.

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