Address by Mr. Noel Treacy, T. D., Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce At The Enterprise Encounter Project

in St Joseph's College, Garbally Park, Ballinasloe, Co Galway

on 26^th November 2001 at 10.00am

It is with great pleasure that I was able to accept the invitation from College Principal Mr. Tom Blanche, to be here this morning to officially launch the Enterprise Encounter Project, here in St Joseph's College, Garbally Park. It is also a credit to the school itself that it was chosen as the location for this very prestigious event.

Educators today are faced with the challenge of providing young people with a sound basic education, helping them to develop as individuals and citizens and to equip them with the wide range of skills and competencies needed in today's world. As a member of Government, I am seeking to ensure that society continues to deliver entrepreneurs, in these challenging times, to help sustain the economic growth of recent years, by creating worthwhile employment.

Our young people are undoubtedly a resource. Time and time again, major international companies contemplating an investment in Ireland have indicated that the calibre of our young people and their excellent educational standards are the key factors which prompted them to invest here.

However, we need to be careful that we do not think of our students and graduates as employees only. We must see them also as potential employment creators!

In the recent past, there was a perception that Ireland's booming economy fostered entrepreneurial desires and that we had become a nation of ‘go-getters'.

However, this has not been the case. Our level of new business start-up, for instance, is low, by international standards.

One of the reasons being, we don't have a history of entrepreneurship. Our education system has been geared to getting a good job, not to creating jobs.

Many of our young people are well-travelled and naturally entrepreneurial, but very often return home to join a local company.

We need to change this mind-set. We want our culture to become one of ‘doings things' rather than one of ‘waiting for things to do'.

Goal-oriented thought is what drives business. As the national economy becomes more knowledge-based, the need to teach people how to think and communicate clearly, is more pressing. Entrepreneurs need to have the will to work through their problems in order to attain their goals.

The County and City Enterprise Boards have, since their inception, provided support services to small business throughout the Country. Arising from this close interaction, Enterprise Boards also seek to increase and sustain the contribution that small business makes to the Irish economy.

The Boards endeavour to foster an environment where people will look to create their own jobs. The development of a strong enterprise culture in Ireland is absolutely essential if we are to maintain long-term growth and employment-formation.

A spirit of entrepreneurship needs to be encouraged, whereby starting a business is increasingly seen as a career path choice. The formal education system has a key role to play in the individual's development of entrepreneurial skills and attitudes. If we provide young people with enough encouragement, backed up with the necessary skills, and create the environment for business to succeed, it is hoped more young people will respond and become the entrepreneurs of the future.

‘Enterprise' has now been included in the curriculum of both the Leaving Certificate Vocational programme and the Leaving Certificate Applied. The development of these programmes and their inclusion in the school curriculum was an enlightened and far-seeing initiative. The County and City Enterprise Boards are delighted to be involved in the development and delivery of the ‘Enterprise Encounter' programme.

This innovative programme, originally developed by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Enterprise Board in association with the Blackrock Education Centre, brings students into direct contact with entrepreneurs in their local area. It is hoped that students will gain an insight into the courage, drive, persistence and vision required to set up and run a business. The sense of enthusiasm and purpose possessed by entrepreneurs will, I hope, inspire students and plant the seed of entrepreneurship in your young minds.

I wish to thank everyone involved in establishing ‘Enterprise Encounter'. I was pleased to be able to fund it from the special Enterprise Education monies that I secured for our Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I would love to see more and more young people looking seriously at self-employment as a real career option, and coming to the realisation that your ideas can become the businesses of the future.

I am sure that the benefits of participating in this excellent programme will have far reaching effects in your future careers. I wish all of you every success in all of your endeavours, in the exciting years ahead.