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

During the deep recession when we lost 300,000 jobs we would have lost 400,000 jobs were it not for the fact that people set up businesses that in the most difficult times created 100,000 jobs. Almost 10,000 businesses a year are formed. The obsession with high potential start-ups is misplaced. There will be only 100 of them per year and this will be pushed up to 120. We need to look at wider elements of entrepreneurial strategy, such as a culture that promotes entrepreneurship in our education system, mentoring, the density of opportunities for people to start their own businesses, venture capital and angel capital. It is a world we need to address. Having it as an add-on to a wider enterprise strategy risks that attention will be lost. For the long term, we need indigenous businesses growing and scaling in Ireland.

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