Mary White (Fianna Fail)

On 10 June the Kernel Capital group, which manages seed capital and venture capital funds for investment in emerging Irish companies, published an open letter in The Sunday Business Post to the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and the presidents of all the Irish universities and institutes of technology. The open letter has brought much-needed national focus on the need for graduate programmes in our third level colleges focused on international sales.

We have all heard a lot about research, development and innovation that will create and deliver the products we need as a trading nation but all of that counts for nothing if we cannot sell the products. Sales are the engines of growth. To be a major export nation we need to be world class at selling our technology and innovations, yet, relative to the availability of scientists, engineers, barristers, finance experts, legal experts, venture capitalists and other professionals, our innovation-led companies have a critical shortage of world class internationally focused sales expertise. While there are a multitude of marketing programmes and marketing degrees, there are no degrees focused on international sales. Indeed, there is an attitude of mind very prevalent, and which I personally experienced in developing Lír Chocolates, that selling was somehow beneath the status of the marketing graduate.

I commend Kernel Capital on taking the initiative in the national interest in campaigning for international sales specialisation in our third level sector. I ask that the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, would come to the House to respond to this proposal.