John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

——times are not experienced only by Ireland. They are worldwide. Every country has experience of that at one stage or another. I explained this. The Government is measured by how it manages the economy, how it puts in place the policies and the funding to deal with the issue, and by the confidence it has in different sectors. In the sector for which I am responsible, namely, the county enterprise boards, Enterprise Ireland etc, we put our money where our mouth is. An increase of 16% went to county enterprise boards. The companies that operate within those boards and within Enterprise Ireland are experiencing difficulty and they are looking to the Government for guidance, direction and leadership. That is what we are giving them by the direction we are taking.

I said earlier there is a need to look at the economy now and to consider how we might develop the actions and policies of county enterprise boards while we continue to increase by 16% their funding. That will allow them to engage with small and medium enterprises that create 800,000 jobs in this country. I acknowledge that to be the case, against the odds. I was at a conference last week attended by 400 women who were enthusiastic about getting involved in business. In second level schools 12,000 students participate in a scheme that encourages a spirit of enterprise and grows the notion of starting and being involved in business. That is an indication of how, in spite of what is happening, in this country there is a solid increase in business and in the numbers of people creating employment for themselves. Every month 2,700 enterprises are registered and over half of those are run by women. A total of €190 million has been spent by Governments since 1993 in support of the small and medium enterprise sector and 35,000 jobs were created through the experience with county enterprise boards.

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