Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It was the Ballaghadereen bypass - one of the few that went ahead last year. The point is that the company brought back six engineers. It is a very small thing but it is important for those people. It is not a case of not recognising the fact that many people have left. There is a delegation in the US talking to the public representatives in Washington, DC, about the undocumented Irish. It is not all rosy in the garden when people go away. Prices have increased in Australia, it is not as easy as people might imagine to pick up employment, and skills and trades are very important. That is all part of the mix here.

When I meet these politicians from abroad, they see how Ireland has moved into a very different space. Please God, 2014 will be a more progressive year for the country economically and from a jobs perspective. The more we can rectify our economic problems, the more we can invest in facilities and opportunities. We have programmes for technological universities and the integration between the world of academia and business. I see how, around the country, there is clearly a need for the institutes of technology to be able to provide technicians who can go beyond their local area, for the universities to be able to supply engineers and for an engagement between the academic and commercial worlds. The other day, I saw how at that plant in the midwest, all of the material - robotics, electronics and software - had been designed by local engineers in different firms, which is great. When companies ask their employees for ideas about how they improve the situation, they are moving to a different level and that is where we need to be.

I meet some of these people who invest in Ireland. Why do they come here? Yes, tax is a fundamental issue but the setting of the bar high enough for people who want to get in there is a factor. Not everybody can be a PhD or get a Master's degree but it is the responsibility of Government to be as open as possible to create as much business as possible. That is why we need competence, effectiveness, a strong economy running well and an education system that is flexible enough to meet the demands that are coming in the times ahead.

Others look at us with a degree of envy in many respects. We are not perfect by any means but we will work very hard in the time ahead to make the difference. I see a real opportunity for Irish-based and Irish-grown small and medium-sized enterprises that employ locally and supply larger firms or export directly. At the national ploughing championships, I was struck by the extent of new Irish engineering firms in a range of areas that have grown up in the last period. That is a great development and we must encourage more of it. Insofar as the Government can work with these creators of opportunity, we will.

I recently visited Cherrywood when the most recent full commercial licence for a bank was issued by the Central Bank in the case of Dell Financial Services. It supplies money to firms that use its technology at its rates, which is a move towards the supply of finance and credit for small and medium-sized enterprises that is non-mainline banking. Much of this has been supplied in other countries for many years. I see a trend emerging in that area as well. It is all about listening to groups and people but also being provocative in making decisions that might involve some risk, such as the abolition of the air travel tax. Let us hope that it works and impacts on the hospitality sector for the benefit of everybody in all areas around the country.

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