Entrepreneurship Forum Report Published

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Burton has launched the Report of the Entrepreneurship Forum alongside Minister of State for Small Business John Perry and Chair of the Forum, entrepreneur and investor Sean O’ Sullivan

The forum was established as part of the government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2013.

69 recommendations have been put forward by the forum in their report.

Included in the Report’s recommendations are:

• Use of unoccupied and NAMA buildings for a total of 50,000 square feet of co-working space

• Mandatory training in commercialisation of business ideas for all third-level science, technology, engineering and maths students

• Changes to law to support employee stock option programmes

• A national education strategy for entrepreneurship at all levels of the education system

• A mentoring network driven by entrepreneurs

• Tax incentives for investment in enterprise

• In the long-term – a flat tax of 15-20% on all types of income

Launching the Report, Minister Bruton said: "Two thirds of all new jobs come from start-up businesses in the first five years of their existence. "Entrepreneurs are the heroes of the economy, creating businesses, jobs and growth from which the rest of us benefit, and Ireland has some amazing entrepreneurs, but not nearly enough. That is why, as part of the Action Plan for Jobs, we are determined to look at new ways of supporting and facilitating entrepreneurs so we can have more start-ups and ultimately more jobs. And that is why we have asked entrepreneurs themselves, people who have actually done it, to tell us what they think we need to do to achieve this goal."

The full report can be found online at the DJEI website.

(MH)