30% of SMEs to create jobs in 2015

30% of Small to Medium sized (SMEs) businesses in Ireland intend to create new jobs in 2015 – news welcomed by Sean Kelly MEP who is lobbying for greater EU support for the sector.

“At a high-level meeting of SME representatives from Ireland and European policymakers in Brussels, Patricia Callan, Director of the Small Firms Association of Ireland confirmed that just under a third of all Irish SMEs intend to expand and create new employment opportunities at home in the New Year.

“This is extremely welcome news as we look ahead to 2015 and demonstrates the returning confidence in the Irish business sector,” Mr Kelly said today.

The Fine Gael MEP has highlighted the importance of small businesses to the Irish and EU economies: “If every SME in Europe just created one extra job, we would solve unemployment in Europe overnight. That is how vast and vital our small business network is”.

Currently, some 200,000 SMEs employ 68% of Irish private sector workers in Ireland. There are 23 million SMEs across Europe.

“The difficulties facing the sector include burdensome bureaucracy, a lack of financial credit or lending from financial institutions and over-rigorous public procurement procedures in Ireland. Fine Gael and our European colleagues in the EPP Group are committed to reducing red tape and fostering a competitive business environment,” Mr Kelly, a member of the European Parliament’s Industry Committee continued.

“We should aim to have less, not more, bureaucratic burdens on Irish SMEs than the rest of the EU. This would help make us more competitive and make life easier, and more profitable, for our SMEs.

“Creating a stronger, more innovative digital and ICT sector in Europe will also be key in reinforcing our future business potential. I have always said we need a more vibrant manufacturing sector in Europe, so we can make the goods we invent,” he added.