Chambers Ireland welcomes OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Policy Review

Chambers Ireland welcomes today’s launch of the OECD-commissioned Review of SME policy and entrepreneurship in Ireland from Heather Humphreys TD, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Pat Breen TD, Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection.

Speaking this morning, Chambers Ireland Chief Executive Ian Talbot commented;

“We welcome the roadmap recommendations in the Review released today.

The OECD’s Review into Ireland’s SME policy and entrepreneurship policies is an ambitious step in building a comprehensive strategy for our SMEs to develop and prosper in the long term.

In developing the Future Jobs Strategy based on today’s Review, we call on Government to develop our Budget 2020 proposal of an Action Plan for Trade, where indigenous businesses are supported to reap the benefits of EU Free Trade Agreements, as well as increased investment for the Enterprise Europe Network and increased collaboration with our Chamber network to promote these supports nationwide.

Further, we welcome the recommendations on increased training for SMEs to workforce and managerial skills through tax relief for non-domiciled new hires by Irish SMEs as well as new standards in SME management development programmes.

While the Review is extensive, there is more that can be done to ensure incoming regulations do more to help SMEs rather than hurt their competitiveness. Putting into practice an ‘SME Test’ assessment, as part of the European Commission’s Better Regulation guidelines, would be an effective way to assess the impact of proposed legislation on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

While Ireland has reaped the benefits of being an open economy and a prime location for FDI, our indigenous companies have not always enjoyed the same levels of growth as multinationals have in recent years and today’s Review helps to build a new trajectory for growing our businesses and taking on future challenges, such as making the transition to the Low Carbon Economy.”

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For further information please contact Gabriel Doran, Communications & Media Executive on 01 400 4331, 086 608 1605 or email gabriel.doran@chambers.ie