Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I do not accept that the needs of small business are not receiving sufficient attention. In my Department the Minister of State, Deputy John Perry, specialises in supporting small businesses and has been active in that regard. This is not to say the problems have been solved. Far from it, but we have access to finance and a micro-finance initiative for small businesses is being worked on, as is the loan guarantee scheme. We have tendered for a development fund which we will use for slightly larger companies which are seeking to expand. We are examining the spectrum of needs of small businesses with a view to making it easier to start up and survive. As the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Sherlock, outlined, we are seeking to make it easier for small businesses to access the public procurement process.

Like Deputy Finian McGrath, we recognise that the bulk of jobs will be created by smaller businesses, to which end we need to support them. However, some of the issues he raised go well beyond my brief. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has established an infrastructural fund amounting to €1 billion to support opportunities in that respect. Last week NAMA stated its belief that, as a State company of a different sort, it would invest €2 billion in practical infrastructural projects during the coming years. Attention is being paid to infrastructural requirements and the need to find off-balance sheet initiatives to leverage activity in that regard. That is the thinking behind NewERA and much of the work being done by the Ministers, Deputies Brendan Howlin and Michael Noonan.

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