Educational policies should be supportive of entrepreneurship, and there may be a need to improve access to finance. Ireland would seem to score well in this area. Although there is, no doubt, always room for improvement, the OECD has confirmed that the regulatory burden on business in Ireland is low. There is also the fact that our business taxes are low by international standards.
The expansion of the economy, new business start-ups and employment growth are indicative of our positive performance in this area. Promoting employment and greater social cohesion The EU ECOFIN Council last year emphasised the importance of a number of labour market reforms.