SME need say on policy forum

SMALL firms must be granted direct involvement in the Government’s economic decision-making processes, ISME has demanded.

At its annual conference in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium yesterday, the lobby group for the small business sector welcomed initiatives already introduced by Minister of State for Small Business John Perry, including the establishment of the Small Business Advisory Group, but said that considerably more needs to be done.

To this end, ISME chairman John Ryan said a state bank is “badly needed” in order to address the credit “famine” for domestic enterprises. Mr Ryan said that SMEs could have a say in Government policymaking through a national representative forum that would independently advise, assist and evaluate Government economic programmes “to ensure compatibility with the needs of the economy as a whole”.