Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I sincerely thank Senator McGreehan for bringing forward this very important issue. At the outset, I will take the liberty to address my response not just to Senator McGreehan, but to the school kids who are in the Visitors Gallery because this is really important. We are dealing with a very important issue for every one of them and they are very welcome to the people's House and the Parliament.

As the Senator knows better than any of us, the increased participation by women in STEM, but also in the workforce and politics is vital for the economy, the Government and our society. This Government is committed to ensuring that women are able to realise their full entrepreneurial potential.

The THRIVE programme the Senator mentioned is supported by the local enterprise office, LEO, in Louth, which has paid out €10,000 in funding over the past three years, but also by attending and supporting events that have been of great benefit to LEO clients in Louth. The Senator and I were in the Carrickdale Hotel ten days ago and we are really taken by the enthusiasm for business in the region. I had a good chance to talk with the head of the LEO office and officials from DKIT, alongside the Senator that morning. As the Senator will know, I was lucky enough to visit the Louth LEO on what I believe was my first LEO visit as Minister of State more than a year ago and I was really taken by the quality of the clients. In fact, last year, 212 companies were supported by the Louth LEO, and that created 154 jobs alone.

STEM is a vitally important sector of our economy, but it is crucial that we, as a country, have as many women in STEM as possible. I understand the Louth LEO, as well as the Cavan LEO, have done great work with the THRIVE programme, but a request for the continuation of this funding has not yet been made. It is crucial that we promote and support women entrepreneurs and women in STEM because it is frankly the right thing to do.

Ireland has the third highest rate of early-stage female entrepreneurs across European countries, but we still have much room to improve. Growing the number of women entrepreneurs and women in business more generally is a key objective of this Government. I feel very strongly about the need to step up our efforts to make progress in that area. Officials in my Department are actively engaging with our agencies and all 31 of our local enterprise offices to examine what can be done to progress equality, diversity and inclusion. This includes looking at the data and statistics that are currently collated regarding women in business and identifying where there may be gaps so that we can have greater insight into our performance in this area. I met with a group called TechFoundHer in recent months to discuss how we can improve here.

Enterprise Ireland has an ambitious target to increase the number of women-led companies growing internationally by 100% by 2025. As well as that, year on year, the LEOs are celebrating increasing numbers of women in business through the National Women’s Enterprise Day, which takes place each year in October. This past year, the theme was Empowering Business Together, with events taking place nationwide. I had the privilege of launching it in Tallaght with a range of inspiring speakers and with topics covering everything from leadership to developing a strategic mindset to meeting the challenges of digitalisation and transforming a business in a low-carbon economy.

I can assure the Senator that much work is under way to support women in STEM and indeed between the Louth LEO and the THRIVE programme. Funding has been provided for the past few years, and I hope that any request for funding would be viewed positively.