Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

We are proposing the creation of a €100 million micro-enterprise fund that will be aimed specifically at such companies. We hope it will be rolled out in what is a competitive area. It will not only be confined to county enterprise boards, although they could be a feature. There are other useful groups supporting new start-ups such as First Step which is predominantly based in Dublin city but which has now a national mandate. There are opportunities to look at other ways to support them, but we need to make supports more accessible to smaller companies. I want Enterprise Ireland to develop programmes that will be easier to roll out and can be promoted in a business to business support format. I very much admire the Plato Programme that allows existing companies, working in their own free time, to support smaller companies to develop. If we can pump prime that activity, we can add much value without having to commit huge funds that clearly are not available. I share the Deputy's eagerness to see development in this regard and we will be working to see how we can develop an effective package to help these companies.

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