Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

The greatest rate of failure for any business whether a restaurant, a hairdresser or an IT company, is seen in the first two years. Anything that can be done to help companies come through the difficult patch at the beginning should be done. It is not a case of looking for another Iona Technologies but rather an attempt to develop 10,000 smaller companies, each with a small number of employees and so create a thriving, innovative economy. This is the future for the economy. We should enact legislation that makes it easy for these individuals. We do not have to understand every single thing about what they do. They could be IT companies or companies involved in bio-pharmaceuticals or engineering. It is often the case that these individuals do not understand the legislation or the finances. We should do everything we can to facilitate those individuals to get this country moving in a high-tech way for the future.