Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Updated at 11.50pm
DESPITE AMBITIONS TO be a leading startup nation, it appears Irish people are more wedded to the culture of working for a pay cheque.
A report on entrepreneurship in Ireland has shown Ireland lagging behind the majority of EU countries when it comes to most key indicators of startup activity.
And not surprisingly, it also showed that the recession put a major dent in the opportunities people saw in launching their own startups.
Ireland ranked 16th in Europe based on the share of people who had either started businesses or were classified as ”nascent entrepreneurs” – those in the process of launching an enterprise.
The position dropped from 9th place last year, when there was a sudden spike in the number of startups in operation, and well behind that of other bailout recipients like Portugal and Greece.
About 6.5% of the adult population were classed as “early-stage entrepreneurs”, below the European average of 7.7% and less than half the share in the US, Canada or Australia.
Click here for a larger version
A recessionary hit
The report said people’s perceptions about the opportunities for launching their own businesses took a nosedive during the recession, although the rate had slowly been recovering.
Less than half the population said they viewed entrepreneurship as a good career choice, also below the European average, despite Ireland having one of the largest proportions who viewed success in the field as having high status.
But Irish workers did rate much higher than their European peers when it came to “intrapreneurship” – those within companies who triggered new business activity for their employers.
Click here for a larger version
In October, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said he wanted 25% more startups formed each year and a 25% higher survival rate among new businesses.
Capital-gains tax and income tax changes were flagged at the time, although any introduction of the measures was kicked down the road to Budget time. In May it launched a rebranded and improved seed-capital scheme.
Despite sustained lobbying from the business sector, the government is also yet to bring taxes for the self-employed in line with those of PAYE workers.
Launching the report, Bruton said the figures showed Ireland was at or slightly below-average in the EU on most key measures of startup activity.
“As I have said many times before, we have great entrepreneurs in Ireland – we just don’t have enough of them,” he said.
Clearly we must do more, and I am determined to ensure that in Budget 2016 and into the future we will continue making changes to encourage more people to start their own business and create the jobs we need”.
Irish Tax Institute president Mary Honohan today said the country’s tax policies weren’t attractive enough for those “who take real risks by putting money into startups”.
She also cited a combination of the country’s “immensely restrictive” capital gains tax laws – especially compared to those in the UK – and “penal regime” for offering share options to new workers.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Sound like new business opportunities for us here in Ireland.
@mickmc: it won’t effect the scobie champagne “Buckfast “
@mickmc: Sparkling Elderberry?
The response to the so-called climategate emails was that the academic community hired even more people to support the ‘climate change’ bandwagon so 8 years later the world is seeing the fruits of that policy whether it is airplane landing difficulties , wine productivity or anything else to keep the corpse dancing.
The real issue is far more interesting as it is unfinished historical business that wasn’t addressed since the Galileo affair when a dispute broke out about predictive modelling and proof of the Earth’s motion around the Sun. The ‘climate change’ bandwagon is merely another symptom of that systemic failure so the difficulty is the current lack of people willing to deal with the matter at that level.
@Gerald Kelleher:
So-called ‘climategate’ was debunked years ago. It’s amazing how deniers still cling on to it.
@Gerald Kelleher: I see some detail here finally. Do you have some issue with predictive modelling? If so, please elaborate.Thanks.
Climate change is always happening. For those who are awake don’t believe that it is just man made or in the scam that is the carbon tax. Saying that there is certainly nothing wrong with developing and using renewable energy.
@George Salter: The last time you showed up in a comment section you were talking about ‘annoying the troll’ and now you are looking for information. The issue is for adults who feel they are not being lectured to and have developed a sense that ‘climate change’ is a symptom of something else -
“We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.” Galileo
@George Salter: Gerald is labouring under the misconception that everybody except him is stuck in the 1800 and we are all blindly following a simple mechanistic view of the world. That because modelling is so limited and so easily manipulated it should never be used at all. While he has a good point about manipulation and reliability, he fails to see that it is still a useful tool when used properly.
@Greg Blake: Ah but you see, the point is that modelling is useful as long as you are aware of its limitations and that was the major point which straddles the geocentric system and the shift to the Sun centered system and it was the valid objection of the Pope at the time.If the Journal didn’t always tie one hand behind my back when I try to expand on this as responses go down a drain I would make it clear as to why ‘climate change’ is a symptom of an overreaching approach.
@Gerald Kelleher: Well, it is a bit hard to take you seriously when you produce quite sanctimonious statements and then pretty much sneer at anyone who isn’t convinced by your arguments (for want of a better word). I’ve tried engaging before, to be faced with derision and an attitude of “you poor simple fool”.
I’m happy to discuss, but producing odd statements that annoy people, then putting them down and generally being offensive, is pretty much what a troll does.
Incidentally, this is not the first time I’ve been on comments since…just on comments that you appear in.
@Gerald Kelleher: The argument that climate change isn’t man made is complete bunkum. Everyone who makes this claim seems to point to the fact that there has always been climate change in the past. But this is a complete denial delusion. We know that the effects are definitely man-made because the RATE of climate change has burst out of the natural (very slow) rate that has been the norm in the past. Not to mention that we have covered 3% of all inhabitable land with tarmac and concrete, removed trillions of acres of forests and are pumping CO2 and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere at a spectacular and unprecedented rate, so we are not short of explanations for the record breakout we are witnessing, it’s just that some prefer to remain blinkered.
@Greg Blake: “Gerald is labouring under the misconception that everybody except him is stuck in the 1800 ”
Not so, the hand everyone here has been dealt with ,including you, begins in the early 17th century. The limitations will show up in a month when the solar eclipse happens and the inner planets are observed -
http://www.zam.fme.vutbr.cz/~druck/eclipse/Ecl1997r/Tse1997uw2/Hr/Tse1997uw2.png
That is the only time Mercury and Venus are seen with the central Sun in the picture otherwise the two planets are restricted to dawn and twilight appearances. As analogy we see the two inner planets move around the central Sun much as we see Jupiter’s satellites move around their parent planet -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcrBAuLBXag
This has a huge bearing on modelling even though it is not immediately apparent and that is why reasonable adults are necessary to work through the details where limitations based on speculative conclusions can’t be passed off as inviolate facts. At least you, despite a small dig, have a balanced view that is rare to see in this comment section.
@Gerald Kelleher: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Spain recorded it’s highest tempature ever of 47 degrees this year around Cordoba. Maybe in 100 years time we can look forward to Irish grown grapes and fine wines.
Picking grapes in the rain and sipping red wine on the patio with the odd spit of drizzle in the air should be something.
@Charles Williams: wine is produced in the UK so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility in the near future
@Jamie:
It’s actually quite likely.
@Charles Williams: Man-made climate change deniers are simply those who can’t interpret graphs and don’t understand the difference between rate of change. https://xkcd.com/1732/
@Paraic McDonagh: *Change and rate of change*.
@Jamie: Already being produced in Ireland Blackwater Valley Vineyard (Mallow), Longueville House (Mallow), West Waterford Vineyard (Cappoquin, Co. Waterford for example. The EU recognises us as a wine producing nation.
Honestly, never hear of that.
In Italy, harvest time, it’s at beginning/mid September. Perfectly sustainable working on that condition….pretty much every student did the season once in their life to make few quid.
Some grapes, for some wines, particularly in South Italy are harvested earlier, just because the mature earlier: late August. That time, at that latitude, they harvest overnight, since the time of our grandparents,
Sometimes, I feel they’re seeking problems where there are no problem at all…
@Proudly Italian: Sixteen of the 17 warmest years in the 136-year record all have occurred since 2001, with the exception of 1998. The year 2016 ranks as the warmest on record (so far).
@Paraic McDonagh: care to tell us by what margin it is ‘the warmest year on record’ and the margin of error? Just a crock of ‘homogenised’ stats because the raw data is very inconvenient to the pseudo-religion of ACC. If the raw data is good, why would Mann not release it during the recent Canadian trial.
@Joseph Siddall: You’re not a climatologist so you have no business speaking on it just like you’re not an oncologist which means I will never consult a buffoon like you if I ever get the big C. Go away, you mental midget.
@Proudly Italian: Was told by a wine producer in Napa that the climate is changing at a rapid pace and the vineyards there are feeling the effects first hand. They grapes are being harvested at different times every year. Your opinion is uninformed and ignorant. Goodnight.
@Philip Gerard: so, either you don’t know or do know and the numbers don’t stack up in your favour. I think we all now know which it is. Name calling instead of answering a simple, civil question. One can only feel sorry for you.
@Paraic McDonagh: i wonder why you got Philip Gerard to, not, answer my simple question? Unless, of course, you are one and the same person. Two cheeks … As they say?
Very misleading, I was expecting to read about the effects on the grape vines, instead I read about workers. Luckily humans are adaptable & workers will have to adjust their work patterns if required, although it’s probably something that they already do in these areas.
Sunspot cycle is at a 70 year low….This could trigger some years of global cooling
@John003: Really? We’re on the 24th cycle since records started in the late 1700s. There doesn’t seem to have been 24 warming/cooling cycles associated with this.
How can this be? There is no climate change. These libtard chateaux entreprenneurs are simply making expensive changes in order to promote ideology. It must be the lizards making them do it.
Time to ditch the potatoes….. I smell new business
@john Appleseed:
We may have ditched the spud already because most of supermarket stock is imported.
When have you last seen a field of spuds?
Jesus H. Christ.
Tripe. Harvest is September in most European producing countries and most of that is done by machinery these days. There’s any amount of locals willing to put in the work for that short period. The vines are hardy beyond comprehension. Twill be a long long time before wine production will be affected, infact I’d argue that it’s on the increase.
There was frost in Bordeaux which ruined the crop. Hardly because of increased temperatures…
Now this weather thing is getting serious
If the Irish temperature lifted 5 degrees year round then the farmers would be happy, the tourists would be happy so, “why worry…..be happy….”
Blah Blah Blah……Fake News. Stop this nonsense, giving wine producers and leaders a big stick to beat us with. Wait and see , another new Tax collected for the Ozone layer, has the carbon tax even been handed over to our creator to fix the hole in the sky. Its simple just too many people on the planet. sort that out and were fixed for another 2 million years. They way these nuts are talking we only have 1.5 million years on this planet. What a load of crap lol
What a crock of shi#t
Wouldn’t tea and coffee be effected too, olive oil etc etc?
have your say