Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Within this broadly encouraging national picture, I want to focus on what we must do better if we are to inspire hope that Ireland can provide a better future for many of our fellow citizens who do not share this belief. I referred this morning to Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy's suggestion that 800 children in Ireland were made homeless in the first ten months of this year and that 45 families were made homeless last month. That is the reality.
We are still failing to capitalise on the full potential of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector. According to the latest ISME quarterly bank watch survey, as published on 2 December, 50% of companies that applied for bank funding in the last three months were refused. The decision of Danske Bank and Rabobank to exit the Irish market has left many small and medium-sized enterprises with significant problems in getting the existing banks to refinance their loans. The head of the Credit Review Office, Mr. John Trethowan, who is usually quite measured, sounded the alarm bells when he said that this refinancing "will be a challenge for the wider economy and recovery" with significant numbers of small and medium-sized enterprises "exhibiting some form of financially challenged condition" and the remaining banks applying "strict lending policies and limited risk appetites". I appeal to the Minister to address this "challenge for the wider economy and recovery" by seeking greater transparency in the murky world of banks and small and medium-sized enterprises and getting a better response to the legitimate lending and refinancing needs of such enterprises. I have spoken in this House previously about my doubts that the new strategic bank corporation will improve credit access, given that the existing banks will still be responsible for taking credit decisions and risks. I strongly encourage the Minister to support Mr. Trethowan's recommendation that the microfinance scheme loan limit should be increased from the current €25,000 to at least €50,000 and possibly to €100,000. I assure the Minister that Mr. Trethowan knows what he is talking about.
We should do more to capitalise on the massive untapped potential of women as entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurship policy paper I mentioned earlier shows that a man in Ireland is 1.9 times more likely than a woman to be "an early stage entrepreneur". The ratio has been improving, and we are now level with the average across the 28 EU member states. In the words of the policy document, "it still shows untapped potential amongst female entrepreneurs". There has been an increase in the number of female-led projects approved by Enterprise Ireland. Sixteen female-led projects were supported financially by Enterprise Ireland in 2012, but this number had increased to 41 by last year. This is surely a vindication of the responsiveness of women to the specific initiatives taken to encourage them as entrepreneurs. If we do not develop the full potential of half of the population by getting more women to be more active as entrepreneurs, we will not develop the full potential of the country. We need to see more women in the technology sector. We should actively oppose the male-dominated "testosterone-fuelled Silicon Valley" practices that were eloquently described by Karlin Lillington in an article in The Irish Timeson 20 November last. I am sure the Minister read the article, which was entitled "'Boys being boys' attitude in the tech sector needs to end". The new chief executive officer of Enterprise Ireland, Julie Sinnamon, is in a unique position as the first female head of an organisation that is charged with encouraging more female entrepreneurs. I encourage the Minister to support the expansion of Enterprise Ireland's ambitious women initiatives and to increase the annual funding for the female feasibility funds and the start-up funds.
There is a real danger of a divide between Dublin and the rest of Ireland when it comes to providing modern facilities and encouraging entrepreneurs. There are real fears in most of the country that the economic recovery is mostly evident in Dublin and will not spread to their areas. I am sure the Minister is aware of the concern in the regions that foreign direct investment is increasingly concentrated in Dublin and Cork. As Senator Mooney has pointed out, County Leitrim got just one visit from IDA Ireland in recent years. It appears that most of the high-potential projects approved by IDA Ireland and the vast bulk of the seed capital and venture capital funds are concentrated in Dublin and Cork, with some presence in Limerick and Galway. It is in the interests of balanced regional development and the economic vibrancy of all counties and regions for imaginative ways to be found to foster high-potential start-ups in all regions to a much greater extent. We need to capitalise on the existing business know-how in the area, the expertise of the nearest universities and colleges of technology and the third level education of the sons and daughters who leave their native areas. We have to capitalise on the abilities of people who are leaving by encouraging them to stay. I strongly support the recommendation on page 49 of the Minister's entrepreneurship policy statement that we need "to build world class entrepreneurial hubs and achieve greater regional spread of such hubs". It is imperative for the Minister to roll out as a matter of urgency the specific initiatives needed to implement this regional ambition.
We must all unite to convince our fellow citizens that Ireland can provide a better future for them. I refer particularly to the long-term unemployed and to the graduates who are leaving our shores. I understand that 56% of unemployed people are deemed to be long-term unemployed because they have been out of work for over a year. I do not deny that this number has decreased. Half of the graduates who leave have jobs already. We must address this issue in Ireland. Why are these graduates not staying? I understand that many people want to spread their wings by going abroad and learning new things, which is natural and inevitable, but one often hears people asking why they should stay in Ireland in light of the pessimistic atmosphere here. I am concerned about the economic loss caused by the departure of so many young people with valuable skills and education. Despite the economic recovery, approximately 80,000 people, half of whom were Irish nationals, emigrated in the year to last April. The Australian Government is delighted that so many skilled people from Ireland are taking up jobs there. Their skills, training and education which were paid for by the Irish taxpayer, are welcomed in Australia.
I draw the Minister's attention to a report I discovered last week, which relates to the effects of the recession on Ireland's older people. This report, which is part of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, TILDA, was published on 4 November last.

Mothers of adult emigrants who left Ireland during the recession are now more likely to suffer from depression and other mental health issues than those whose children are still living in Ireland. The study indicates that despite the fact that older people in Ireland lost 45% of their financial assets, it has not affected them mentally. The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, TILDA, has drawn our attention for the first time to the fact that when children emigrate, mothers get depressed. The same extent of depression does not affect fathers. That is another issue to be considered. I was rushing a bit but I compliment the Minister on his efforts.