Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join in the welcome to the Palestinian ambassador to the House. I compliment Senator Power on her motion. I, like every Member of the House, want to see an end to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Our Government will continue to do everything possible at an international level to help to achieve that.

In light of the fact that our economy is beginning to improve very quickly, I ask the Leader to organise a debate on the recently published national policy statement by the Government on entrepreneurship. It is a plan to deliver an ambitious increase in the number of start-ups over the next five years. It is a follow on and draws from the expert forum on entrepreneurship which was chaired by Mr. Seán O'Sullivan. Many of the recommendations in the forum were for business and private institutions, but there is much the Government can do to incentivise, support and encourage more people to start their own businesses.

The Government plan is to double the number of start-ups over the next five years, to increase the number of start-ups by 25% per annum to 3,000 and to increase the survival rate in the first five years, a critical time for start-ups, by 25%. The plan sets out very clearly what the Government will do to help budding entrepreneurs, including interventions in areas like mentoring, access to finance and education, and promoting start-ups as a career option. The measures in the plan will be implemented through the Action Plan for Jobs 2015. At this juncture it is critical that the Minister comes before the House to have a broad discussion. There are some very knowledgeable people in the House who would like to have further input into how we could continue to do things better, increase the number of start-ups and encourage young people, in particular, as they progress through education to consider start-up businesses as a future career option.