Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I do not know whether a question was asked. Public procurement is certainly an area where we will look to ascertain what initiatives can be developed to ensure SMEs get a greater share of opportunity from public contracts. I know the Deputy in his question to the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Sherlock, referred to the potential impact of €3.1 billion in creating 30,000 jobs. To put that in context, we are estimating the €2.3 billion we have been assigned for the capital programme over the next four years will create 110,000 jobs through the enterprise agencies. In this difficult time, it is important to put our money into sustainable jobs in exporting businesses that can be sustained for the long term. We would all love to have more money to build projects but what we really need is enterprises to sustain employment for the long term.

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