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

Some of the taxation matters could probably be directed to the Minister for Finance but I will endeavour to answer the question as best as I can. Ireland suffered a sustained decline in competitiveness from about 2002 which contributed in major part to the depth of the economic crash and job loss. Reversing these trends has been a central challenge in our Action Plan for Jobs. That plan has addressed the full range of policy areas. Sustained improvement has been achieved in all key areas: the support for start-ups; the ease of doing business; the tax environment; access to finance for start-ups and small business; access to new markets; and critical skills. We have improved our ranking but there is no reason for complacency and we actively watch what other countries are doing, including our nearest neighbour in the UK.

In respect of start-ups, last year, I launched Ireland first ever national strategy for entrepreneurship, which we are more implementing through the Action Plan for Jobs

process. Specifically, we have reformed how we provide supports for enterprise through the establishment of the local enterprise offices providing a first stop shop for entrepreneurs and small businesses in every county in the country. We have launched Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur, IBYE, competition. Enterprise Ireland has increased supports for high-potential start-ups and launched a number of competitive funding calls, focusing in particular on encouraging female entrepreneurship. We have reformed how we support commercialisation and spin-outs from our third-level institutions with the establishment of Knowledge Transfer Ireland with the central focus on making it easier for entrepreneurs and enterprises to develop new products and services and to create jobs and impact for the investments being made.

We have continued to improve the attractiveness of the tax environment for start-ups and entrepreneurs as part of budget 2016. The start-up refund for entrepreneurs scheme was announced in 2016, the rate of capital gains tax for entrepreneurs was reduced to 20% for the first €1 million of gains and the exemption from corporate tax for the first three years of a business was also extended. We have improved access to finance through a range of initiatives including the establishment of Microfinance Ireland, the introduction of the credit guarantee scheme and, more recently, the launch of a range of funding initiatives by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland.

There are encouraging signs of strong growth in start-ups. Entrants to the IBYE competition are up by 40% this year. The number of self-employed people with employees has increased by 13% in the past four years. The number of companies establishing for the first time has increased by 29% in the past four years. These results, along with the very positive job numbers in general, encourage us in our conviction that we have the right policy mix to support strong jobs growth into the future. The challenges involves continuing to improve that environment and not losing that mix or drifting off course.

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