Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

A report last week by corporate restructuring specialists Kavanagh Fennell showed that more than 1,500 firms went into liquidation, receivership or examinership last year. A large proportion of these firms were in the construction sector and other related sectors. This is in part due to the rebalancing of the Irish economy away from unsustainable growth dominated by construction in recent years. On a more encouraging note, the business information firm and risk assessment agency Vision-net states that 14,015 companies were incorporated in Ireland last year, which was an increase of 5% over 2009.

The national recovery plan provides a blueprint for Ireland's return to sustainable economic growth. It identifies areas of activity which will provide increased employment opportunities as Ireland's economic recovery takes place. The plan sets out a range of specific actions and supports designed to improve competitiveness across all sectors of the economy, including the small and medium enterprise sector. There are measures to cut costs to business, the removal of barriers to employment creation and a range of sector-specific actions to increase exports and domestic demand. The specific issue raised by Deputy Burton is a matter for the Minister for Justice and Law Reform.

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