Ireland in leading position in Entrepreneurship – Minister Martin launches GEM report for 2005

Pro-Business environment and strong cultural support for Entrepreneurship critical “Ireland is now very close to the level of the most entrepreneurial of the OECD countries” Minister Martin

Mr Micheál Martin, Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment today (Monday, May 1^st) published the Irish Report of GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) for 2005. This report found that Ireland remains one of the leading countries in Europe in terms of entrepreneurship and is fast approaching the levels of early stage entrepreneurial activity prevalent in the United States. Overall, the research found that almost one in ten of the adult population living in Ireland is actively planning or has recently set up a new business. Sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, Forfás and InterTradeIreland, the members of the GEM Irish research team are Paula Fitzsimons and Dr. Colm O’Gorman

Welcoming the report, Minister Micheál Martin identified a pro business environment, together with a strong culture of support for entrepreneurship, as key factors in fostering an environment conducive to entrepreneurial activity in Ireland. Minister Martin said “In terms of those who have actually set up new businesses, Ireland is now very close to the level of the most entrepreneurial of the OECD countries, most particularly the US, which is well recognised as a hot-spot for innovation and new ideas. The number starting and planning new businesses increased to 9.8% equivalent to almost a quarter of a million individuals in 2005 and I am particularly pleased to see that Ireland is now ranked no. 1 in the world in terms of cultural perception of entrepreneurship. Almost 70% of people consider entrepreneurship to be a good career choice and 80% of people believe successful entrepreneurs are held in high regard. This positive disposition towards entrepreneurship, together with a highly responsive environment to the needs of enterprise at a national and local level, are driving the growth in the number of people interested in starting their own business”.

Kevin Sherry, Manager of Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-Up Unit said “Increasing the number of new high growth export focused businesses is a key objective for Enterprise Ireland and is a key element of Enterprise Ireland’s Strategy Transforming Irish Industry. The GEM report in 2005 shows that one in every two Irish adults perceives that there are good opportunities to establish a new business and one in every two also believe that they have the necessary skills to successfully run a new business. This positive disposition towards entrepreneurship and starting a new business is an important element in embedding a vibrant culture of entrepreneurship in the Irish economy”.

Liam Nellis, CEO InterTradeIreland said “The GEM report gives a unique insight into the entrepreneurial climate of a diverse range of countries. By comparing the performance and perceptions of people in Ireland to those in other leading OECD countries, we can get a clear sense of the relative position of entrepreneurship in Ireland”.

Brian Cogan, Executive Director, Forfás said “Access to informal finance remains relatively low in Ireland and is one of the few indicators where Ireland’s performance does not match other higher performing countries. Lack of early stage finance is one of the areas which has been examined by the Small Business Forum, whose report will be published shortly”.

The GEM report for 2005 can be downloaded from the following page:

http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/Publications/StartPublications/

Ends

ETE1558

Caitriona Meehan

Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment

01-6312200

Kathleen Quinlan

Press Officer

Enterprise Ireland

01-808 2000

Notes for Editors

• GEM research shows that the number starting and planning new businesses increased to 9.8% in 2005 up from 7.7% in 2004.

• The research found a notable increase in the number of men active as entrepreneurs in 2005. The increase in the number of women active as early stage entrepreneurs noted in 2004 has been sustained, but the gender gap has widened again given that the increase in the number of men active as early stage entrepreneurs has increased to over 14% while the number of women active has remained at about the 2004 level (5%). Overall, there are about 2.6 times as many men involved in early stage entrepreneurial activity in Ireland as women.

• This year’s report contains pen pictures of the new entrepreneurs featured on the cover. There are also pen pictures of the state of entrepreneurship in six other countries and these are compared to Ireland in terms of their headline results. The profiles were written by GEM members in each of the countries featured – Australia, Canada, Finland, Singapore, the UK and the US.

GEM 2005 is the seventh global assessment of national entrepreneurial activity. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is a long-term, large-scale multinational research programme co-ordinated jointly by the London Business School and Babson College in the USA. The research also involves a consortium of teams from each of the countries involved in the study.

The Irish GEM report is based on a population survey of 2000 Irish adults and on the opinions of a large and growing number of key informants, experts and entrepreneurs.

Using the information gathered through the survey and interviews, the report assesses the current state of entrepreneurship in Ireland. These results are then compared with the situation across the other 36 countries involved in GEM this year.

The major objectives of the GEM project are as follows:

• To measure the differences in the level of entrepreneurial activity between countries;

• To probe for a systematic relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth;

• To uncover the facts that lead to higher levels of entrepreneurship; and

• To suggest policies that may enhance the national level of entrepreneurial activity.

ENDS