Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Members for their very important contributions. I will work backwards from the final speaker. I look forward to visiting that project. If Senator Byrne wants to give me the details, I will happily engage with him on it.

In the context of the debate, there is more that unites us than divides us. In terms of the Cavan model or the Cavan numbers, we have to engage further because we have not got that detail. A lot of funding was given to Cavan We will come back on that because it is important that we take account of the overarching policy to deliver for all communities and for people. This is about delivery.

As Senator Lynch said, this is the keystone policy that does not forget any location. The Senator was right to mention a number of places, for example IRD Duhallow, which is a wonderful example, as is the one in Macroom. Rural-proofing is important. As the Senator pointed out, we should not forget rural Ireland. I agree wholeheartedly with that. The public consultation two years ago and the research we have commissioned both identified the importance of rural Ireland. Some 43% of our social enterprises are located in rural areas, where they should be. They provide opportunity in the context of the different matters that Senators Cosgrove, Goldsboro, Tully and Byrne referred to. The important point is that it is about removing the barriers. It is not about making profit; it is about the opportunity.

Senator Aubrey McCarthy spoke about Tiglin. As a community activist before I entered politics, as a politician and, now, as a Minister of State, I have discovered that it is about the opportunity. It is about the people who are in whatever position they are in the context of their imperfections. I hesitate to use the word "perfection" because none of us is perfect. It is about making communities better and about the lives that have been transformed. I recently had the pleasure of being with the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Ray MacAdam, at the Dublin City Council enterprise awards. I was blown away by the people I met. It is about the transformative approach that has taken place and, as Senator Goldsboro said, it is the harnessing of people and bringing them together. If we do nothing else, we must recognise that the economic aspect is important. Well-being is equally important. As we have all said, it is about improving lives, transforming them and, very importantly, creating opportunities.It is about taking that model and acting on it. If you have ideas, we have heard about such ideas today, we will work on them.

I will deal with some of the points that have been raised in terms of developing the national body. Action 49 of Trading for Impact commits to enhancing the co-ordination of social enterprises. We are working with the representative bodies, whether it is SERI, ISEN, LDCN or The Wheel. As I said in my speech, they won the contract to support our Department in delivering the policies today. The national conferences, the awards, the traineeship programme and networking all help to develop a model.

As Members will know, CSP is in huge demand. It supports 430 community-based organisations and provides for what we all outlined in our contributions. Another thing it does sometimes gets lost. On occasion, you cannot measure the matrix, but it is supporting 1,700 full-time jobs and 340 people in managerial posts, all of which leads to a policy that is committed to making an impact in a positive way in our communities. In many ways, if you look at some of the failures in research and development, those involved would say that they would never start again. It is similar with social enterprise. They are not just businesses; they are businesses with a social conscience that are about not just empowering or re-educating people but about giving them an opportunity to recalibrate. As a former director of adult education, I met people every day who recognise the importance of their communities and of having the chance to do something and make a contribution. We saw this during Covid. Senator Cosgrove spoke about it in Sligo. I did not get the full name.