Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The remit of the Entrepreneurship Forum, under the chairmanship of Mr. Seán O'Sullivan, is to provide advice on matters of policy in the area of entrepreneurship and to draft appropriate policy conclusions and recommendations which will support business start-ups, sustainable growth and long-term job creation. The forum will generate actions for the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs.

The membership of the forum is focused on a core group of active and dynamic business people who run highly successful businesses and have direct experience of the challenges facing entrepreneurs and can provide a relevant insight into the responses needed in the current economic environment. The forum also has the capacity to call in various stakeholders for specific thematic discussions where required. As stated in the press release announcing the membership on 27 June, “the initial membership will be supplemented at different meetings with representatives and experts from different areas of the economy that can help the work of the forum”. In this regard, at its first meeting Ms Paula Fitzsimons from GEM presented research on entrepreneurship and pointed to areas of potential and models of best practice.

I am keen to take advice and recommendations from people across the country who have actually taken the entrepreneurial route, as well as from experts in the area. That is why I held a public consultation inviting submissions from interested parties to support our work. More than 70 submissions were received from entrepreneurs, business organisations, members of the public and academics. These submissions will provide a starting point for the forum’s work.

The forum and my officials are committed to engaging actively with various representatives around the country in the coming months to obtain a variety of views and to discuss the key issues affecting entrepreneurship activity. I am confident that this process will ensure that the entrepreneurship policy statement which is being developed will contain recommendations which reflect the fullest spectrum of business interests in Ireland.

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