ADDRESS BY MR. NOEL TREACY T.D., MINISTER FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND COMMERCE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE 1999/2000 YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS SCHEME AND THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW SPONSORS AT PLANET HOLLYWOOD, ON MONDAY 4TH OCTOBER, 1999

I am delighted to be here today to lend my support to the launch of the 1999/2000 Golden Vale Young Entrepreneurs Scheme and the announcement that Golden Vale plc are the new sponsors.

The Golden Vale Young Entrepreneurs Scheme, know as YES, is a competition for second level students in Ireland, and has developed from a single school project back in 1991 to a major national programme today, having been transformed by the work of the voluntary members of the Young Entrepreneurs Association.

The Golden Vale Young Entrepreneurs Programme is a major collaborative effort between schools, students, teachers, and parents. The Programme is designed to develop initiative, creativity and entrepreneurial skills, particularly the skill to see a business opportunity ,which, in the long term is vital for both economic and social development. By encouraging and stimulating students we hope to plant the "seed of Entrepreneurship" that will lead to the creation of new ventures in our ever changing business environment. The behavioural shift in Irish society from the employee to self-employment can be a very slow process, but through programmes like the Young Entrepreneurs Awards Scheme, the signs of change are already visible around the country.

I am pleased to hear that the Young Entrepreneurs hope to extend the programme to include all thirty two counties on the island. This is an important step in the coming of age of the enterprise culture in Ireland and will help to build an inclusive prosperous and open Ireland.

This year's launch coincides with a period of tremendous economic and social change here in Ireland. We are on course for continued, strong economic growth in 1999. As a result of this growth, approximately 2,000 new jobs are being created each week. Unemployment is the lowest in a generation as more and more people are running their own business and starting up businesses than ever before. Credit must be given to these entrepreneurs who have taken risks thus ensuring that our enterprise culture is sustained and developed.

The increasing number of school students entering this competition has led to the Golden Vale Young Entrepreneurs Scheme becoming a regular feature in the enterprise calendar in Ireland. The scheme now has over 250 schooled taking part. I am sure that the experience gained from participating in the programme will prove of great benefit to all students during their time at school, but more particularly in their future careers

The Department of Education and Science is very active in the promotion of enterprise and an enterprise culture within the Irish education system. Programmes and schemes such as Young Entrepreneurs are recognised as very successful in the promotion of active learning skills.

The commitment from the students and their teachers to this important developmental activity and to the standard of their work is reflected each year in the finals of the Young Entrepreneurs. In large measure, this is due to the heightened awareness amongst the students themselves of the need to innovate, and to the increased experience of schools and teachers in running this Programme.

The Golden Vale Young Entrepreneurs Programme has had a phenomenal growth in a few short years, from its launch in the Loreto Abbey School in Dalkey, Co. Dublin back in 1991. This tremendous growth in the popularity of the Programme is due in no small measure to the efforts of some very committed people. I would like to congratulate first of all, the Young Entrepreneurs Association, which is a voluntary committee, and all the parent/teacher committees for their interest and energy in steering the Programme.

I would like to pay tribute also to all of the City and County Enterprise Boards, which have played a major part in the spread of the Programme countrywide. Since their commencement in 1992, the County Enterprise Boards have been charged with the development of an enterprise culture at local level throughout the country, and have made a significant contribution to the development of the Golden Vale Young Entrepreneurs Programme.

I would like to say a special word of thanks to Enterprise Ireland who until this year sponsored the Scheme at national level. I commend their efforts in ensuring that the spirit of enterprise is seized by the next generation.

Increasingly, industry and other public sector agencies are becoming involved in joint projects because they realise the valuable contribution these programmes make to the development of our students in preparing them for the world of work and further study.

I would especially like to thank Golden Vale plc for their public spiritedness in agreeing to sponsor this scheme at national level for the next three years. Sponsorship by a large corporate body offers great opportunities for the development of the Programme. By lending their support, Golden Vale are helping to cultivate a spirit of innovation amongst young people which in the long term is vital for our continued economic growth.

The most important people in all this are the young people who will take part. There are a great many pressures on students to-day and it is very encouraging, to record the increasing popularity of the Golden Vale Young Entrepreneurs Programme in our schools.

In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to wish every success to the Golden Vale Young Entrepreneurs Scheme and I look forward to the National Final in May 2000.