Ireland’s entrepreneurial activity orbits EU averages on most measures of startup activity but there is a need for more young entrepreneurs, according to jobs minister Richard Bruton, who launched the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for Ireland today.

The Enterprise Ireland-sponsored GEM report for 2014 was authored by Paula Fitzsimons of Fitzsimons Consulting and Dr Colm O’Gorman, Professor of Entrepreneurship, DCU Business School.

GEM provides an annual assessment of the entrepreneurial activity, aspirations and attitudes of individuals across a wide range of countries and is the largest ongoing study of entrepreneurial dynamics in the world.

Among the key findings of the GEM Report 2014 for Ireland:

• Over 20,000 individuals started a new business in Ireland in 2014.
• Ireland ranks sixth for number of intrapreneurs. One in fifteen people in Ireland are active as intrapreneurs, involved in developing or launching new goods or services for their employer.
• One in six new business owners expect to employ more than 20 people within five years.
• 15.5% of new company owners are in medium or high-tech sectors.
• 46% have a product or service that is new to customers.
• 51% have identified a market niche with limited competition.
• 30% are using new technology.
• Over 50% are using the internet to sell their product or service.
• Millennials (i.e. entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 34) account for 39% of new business owners in Ireland.
• Of those that started a business in Ireland between January 2011 and June 2014, 70% were men and 30% were women.
• Availability and access to finance remains the most commonly referenced constraint to growth.
• Irish entrepreneurs stated that informal venture capital is the most critical early source of funding, with an average of €40,500 being invested.

In Association with

Launching the report, Minister Bruton said: “As I have said many times before, we have great entrepreneurs in Ireland – we just don’t have enough of them.

“The GEM report published today confirms this, with Ireland placing around or slightly below the EU average on most key measures of start-up activity – number of people starting a business, number of ‘nascent entrepreneurs’, number of people who aspire to start a business, perception of opportunities for starting a business.

“However, 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.”