Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I acknowledge that a lot of work has been done but to give an indication of the potential in this area, the total early stage entrepreneurial activity is measured by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and it shows that, in Ireland, 6.5% of the adult population are what it defines as early stage entrepreneurs. The percentage for Irish females is 4.23%, and the European average is 5.45%. The US average is 10.56%. We need to increase our activity.

As the Minister stated, the Enterprise Ireland fund was completely over-subscribed. First, are there any plans to increase the fund and increase the number of calls to the fund to ensure that more people get involved in it? Second, in the context of the regional jobs action plans, will specific measures be undertaken to encourage regional activity in this area? I acknowledge the huge amount of work that has been put into this by the people in Enterprise Ireland and in the local enterprise offices, LEOs, but they are crying out for more support and funding. As the Minister said, there is huge potential in this area but we need the funding to match the potential.

See this speech in context