WHEN asked if he had tried going to a hank for help, one young aspiring entrepreneur told her the only way he would go into a hank was through the roof, Ms Norma Smurfit told the National Economic and Social Forum.
Ms Smurfit was addressing the forum on enterprise and jobs at its plenary meeting yesterday.
She described how she and a group of friends had begun her Start Up programme to help the unemployed, and especially young people, start their own businesses. They were given interest free loans of between £500 and £5,000, which often triggered other funding. Most of the recipients would not he eligible for hank loans.
Start Up also has a mentoring programme, where retired and active business people offer advice. "We will not lend now without a mentor in place," she said. They now help about 600 projects, employing more than 2,000 people.
Although they co-operated with other agencies, including State agencies and the EU, they preserved their independence because it meant no bureaucracy in dealing with people seeking support.
Dr Aidan O'Boyle, chairman of, the Small Business and Services Forum, told the NESF that one small enterprise being set up ink Dublin was dealing with no fewer" than nine different support groups.
"I am amazed that such a small country as Ireland has such a flair for selling up myriads of support organisations," he said.
"From my own experience this has not been unconnected with monies flowing from Brussels, under the aegis of different programmes and directorate generals, necessitating the creation of new vehicles through which the funds can he dispersed. It is time we caught on and did something about rationalising this situation."
Dr O'Boyle also called for the reduction of corporation tax on small businesses from 28 per cent to 25 per cent on the first £50,000 of profit.