Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Finance his views on whether a 35% response rate in the recent business expansion scheme survey is sufficient a quantity to base BES reform decisions on. [4072/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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During Summer 2006 the Department of Finance carried out a survey of the 1,391 companies that had availed of the Business Expansion Scheme since 1997. The aim of the survey was to identify the types of companies that generally avail of the scheme and to determine the nature and extent of the benefits of the scheme to companies that have availed of it in the past. Of the 1,391 companies surveyed, 491 (35% of those to whom the survey was sent) responded. This is a very good response rate for a survey of this nature. The survey clearly indicates that the BES has been good for manufacturing, good for jobs and good for investment in small firms throughout the country.

Of course, my decision to extend the Business Expansion Scheme and the associated Seed Capital Scheme was not solely based on this survey. A thorough review of the scheme was carried out by my Department in conjunction with the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment and the Revenue Commissioners. The results of this review will be published shortly. This review took account of the findings of the Report of the Small Business Forum, Small Business is Big Business, the Survey of SME Finance/Equity carried out by Forfás, and the PWC Report Strategic Advisory Services — Enterprise Ireland Seed and Venture Capital Funds Programme 2006, as well as a range of submissions from interested parties.

In addition, the extension of the scheme was considered by the Tax Strategy Group in the context of Budget 2007.

On the basis of all of this I concluded that there was a strong case for extending the schemes given the clear market failure in providing equity capital for small firms in their start up and early development phase, the evidence of how vital the schemes have been in the past for such firms and the continuing needs in this regard, the potential return to the economy from indigenous Irish companies, and the clear support for continuation from a large number of representative and other bodies in the public and private sector.