Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear what the Deputy is saying and I also recognise his contribution to and experience in this area. To give reassurance, we are not taking anything for granted here. We are assessing the current approach towards a culture of entrepreneurship, start-ups and risk-taking in Ireland, which is needed to continue to generate economic activity and new business all the time. It is one of the reasons that I and the two Ministers of State are spending quite a bit of time around the country, talking to small businesses and listening to them. We had a women in business conference in the last number of weeks to really understand the barriers facing female entrepreneurs. We want to build on the current infrastructure, which works quite well in terms of Enterprise Ireland and local enterprise office, LEO, structures. However, we can continue to ask ourselves if we can do better, specifically in this space, whether that is in the lead-up to budget time or in the broader policy development in this area. Ireland needs to be a leader in terms of being a start-up nation, if you like, and encouraging entrepreneurship and business risk-taking. We need to continue to work on that.

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