The government's commitment to progressing the Lisbon Agenda as a key priority during the Irish presidency of the EU has been welcomed by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Areas of regulatory reform and investment in research and development (R&D) have been mentioned for particular attention, as both these areas are extremely important from an Irish SME perspective. Business organisations have increasingly expressed concern at the amount of regulations and bureaucracy imposed on smaller businesses with the negative impact this has on running a company.
It is anticipated that in the next 12 months alone, 74 new pieces of regulations will be introduced impacting on small companies. Estimates from the OECD have said that such 'red tape' can add costs to SMEs equivalent to 4% of company turnover.
Ireland would place the agenda for economic reform set out at the Lisbon summit at the centre of its programme for the Competitiveness Council.
