FF pledges SME Masterplan for decade ahead – Troy
Published on: 23 January 2020
Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Business Robert Troy TD has committed to a new a SME Masterplan if his party is elected to government.
Speaking to Dublin Chamber of Commerce today Party Leader Micheál Martin confirmed that the initiative, spearheaded by Deputy Troy, involves establishing a SME Growth Taskforce comprised of department representatives, enterprise agencies and small businesses themselves, who together would design a National SME Masterplan.
Deputy Troy explained, “I have met countless businesses, agencies and other stakeholders in the SME sector who all say that small and medium sized enterprises have been abandoned by the outgoing government. Fine Gael have let this sector – the backbone of the Irish economy – drop off the priority agenda.
“It is paramount that government policy is refocused towards our 250,000 indigenous enterprises. I am happy that my party leader has today confirmed Fianna Fáil’s plans to set up a SME Growth Taskforce to create a National Masterplan for SMEs. Such a strategic blueprint will reorient SME policy in Ireland for the next decade and pursue pro-enterprise and pro-entrepreneur policies.
“The recent OECD review of government SME policy confirmed that ‘ challenges remain with regard to Ireland’s domestic SME sector, which is still lagging behind and displaying much lower levels of competitiveness, productivity and R&D spending than large multinationals’.
“Alarmingly, the OECD says, “the country lacks a unified SME and entrepreneurship policy document”.
“We need to act quickly to turn this around and place small and medium enterprises back at the centre of the policy agenda. I look forward to outlining our detailed plans in our manifesto on specific supports that will further incentivise SME start-ups and scaling up of existing enterprises”