Speech by the Tánaiste at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

Thursday, 23 October 2008

I am happy to be here with you tonight and to give deserved recognition to the entrepreneurial efforts of men and women across the country whose commitment and hard work contributes so much to our economic well being. This is the 11^th year of these awards and the gallery of past winners shows the high standards that this year’s nominees are matching. Ernst And Young are to be applauded for their long term support of this award programme.

Entrepreneurship is about blending risk-taking, creativity or innovation with sound management, within a new or an existing organisation. Entrepreneurship can occur in any sector or type of business.

Indigenous Irish companies and entrepreneurs have been, and continue to be a crucial economic growth. In an increasingly competitive world, a greater proportion of the country’s wealth creation will, in future, have to be generated by indigenous companies with the potential to grow and succeed in international markets.

A thriving entrepreneurial culture also has the potential to make a substantial contribution to our economic and social development and to achieving balanced regional growth.

If we are to build a much greater number of competitive and innovative companies in Ireland, then we will need to see many new businesses being created now and in the years ahead.

The key business imperative for your companies and all Irish business is to be innovative and competitive. And underpinning these is the most fundamental requirement of all – to have the leadership capability, the ambition and the mindset to attain high sustainable international growth. Growth in business, revenue and profitability is the ongoing challenge of any company. World-class leaders and management teams are key to meeting that challenge.

It is well established that award events like tonight’s can be hugely influential:

• in fuelling the creative entrepreneurial urge,
• in inspiring others to emulate the achievements of those whose enterprising dreams have been successful,
• in raising public awareness of the need for continuous idea-generation and commitment to creative effort; and
• in demonstrating the high, but attainable, standards which successful performance and high achievement demand.

Events like tonight are about celebrating and showcasing the depth and breath of the entrepreneurial talent that is flourishing in this country at the present time. It is so heartening to see the excellent quality and obvious growth potential of the businesses featured here this evening. The diverse range of high calibre projects speaks well for the inventiveness of our small business sector and for the capacity of the sector to embrace innovation.

The awards cover three categories – International, Industry and Emerging – with 24 nominations across them. The nominees are already successful in their businesses and it is encouraging to see such a broad level of activities being undertaken from international financial services, IT services, pharmaceutical and healthcare through to education, publishing, manufacturing and engineering, environmental products and consumer services. These are all the activities we wish to promote in today’s competitive market place. Apart from the range of activities, there is also a broad range of locations covered by the nominees covering all four provinces on our island. The North–South dimension of the competition is particularly valuable. While I am happy to see nominees from Tyrone and Antrim representing my own province, I would hope that some future nominees from Donegal might also be recognised. Entrepreneurship is not constrained by location and for our economic well being, we need to encourage and support entrepreneurs from every area.

The level of entrepreneurship in Ireland is strong and continues to the fore within Europe. The 2007 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report for Ireland shows that the number of entrepreneurs increased in Ireland during the past year to the extent that, 2,700 individuals were setting up new businesses each month throughout the country - 1,000 of these were women. I very much welcome this development.

There are a variety of interlinked challenges facing Ireland in the years immediately ahead.

Entrepreneurship can play a central role in assisting the country to continue to meet these challenges in a way that contributes to growth and prosperity. These challenges are:

• The challenge to sustain growth.
• The challenge to deepen competitive advantage in a knowledge economy.
• The challenge to strengthen the enterprise base.
• The challenge to create vibrant Regions.
• The challenge to achieve social inclusion.

To meet these challenges there is a need to both sustain a high level of entrepreneurial activity in general and to maximise the number of new businesses that are innovative, and that aspire to, and are capable of, significant growth.

However, if we are to build a much greater number of competitive and innovative companies in Ireland, then we will need to see many new businesses being created now and in the years ahead. The challenge is not only to generate a high level of new businesses being started, but also to maximise the number of innovative businesses among them that subsequently develop to achieve high growth.

If we are to be successful in meeting these challenges, we need to ensure that the spirit of entrepreneurship, that appears to be flourishing becomes embedded in the consciousness of all our people. The education and training sector will play a critical role both in developing entrepreneurial mindsets and in equipping current and future entrepreneurs with the skills necessary to successfully strategically position new enterprises and then manage their subsequent development and growth.

My Department and its Agencies will play an important role in working through the current economic circumstances, and in making sure that we are well positioned to reap the benefits that will undoubtedly arise when the situation improves. We will do this by continuing to work to attract foreign direct investment, by helping Irish businesses to develop and grow their exports, by continuing to prioritise investment in Science, Technology and Innovation, and by providing supports to small businesses. We will also ensure that adequate re-training and support services are available for those who have recently lost their jobs.

Key priorities for the Government in the current economic climate are to enhance the reputation of Ireland as a location for foreign direct investment and to continue to support indigenous companies.

The fundamental objective is to sustain and grow employment by driving investment and promoting export growth in a challenging global environment. Success in overseas markets will generate wealth that will sustain prosperity and employment throughout all parts of the country.

The allocations in my Department’s Estimates for 2009, particularly to the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the County Enterprise Boards, will ensure that we continue to build on this strategy for the future.

The extent of the Government’s commitment to the small business sector should be clear from the real and substantive changes that have already been implemented in response to the Small Business Forum’s Report.

Indeed, in the 2009 Budget on 14 October my colleague, Mr. Brian Lenihan T.D. Minister for Finance, announced tax relief measures for start up businesses by way of remission in Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax in the first 3 years for new and start-up businesses. These measures will also help to grow small business and promote an entrepreneurial culture.

It is my intention that we will continue to work on this agenda and ensure that there continues to be a supportive environment for entrepreneurs in Ireland.

If we are to maintain this level of entrepreneurial activity, we need to embed an entrepreneurial culture in the mindsets of our people. Building an entrepreneurial society involves everybody. In particular, the education system and the media play an important role in promoting positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship. The Ernst & Young Awards which have been the subject of the RTE One Television series over the last few weeks are an excellent example of how the media can assist in raising the profile of entrepreneurship not only with the general public, but also amongst the business community and entrepreneurs themselves.

The awards this year build on the theme of Corporate Social Responsibility and place an emphasis on creating a sustainable environment. The commendable efforts by nominees last year in Haiti have been taken further this year by current and past nominees working “on retreat” there to impart their knowledge and expertise to develop the sustainable businesses set up by last year’s finalists. “Green business” and eco-friendly practices need to be at the core of all our enterprises. The Haiti experience should prove very beneficial to all the participants in their business careers as well, of course, in assisting the people of Haiti.

In conclusion, I wish all of you here tonight continued success into the future and I hope that those participating in this awards programme will contribute positively to securing and developing your businesses into the future. There can be only one winner of the overall award but each nominee is already a winner and should feel proud of their nomination and deserving of recognition and our congratulations.

ENDS/ETE1960