madam president first of all i would like to congratulate the rapporteurs who are involved in this very important report
i think the economic crisis has forced us to take a long hard look at our past economic behaviour
that in turn offers us an opportunity to learn from our past mistakes
i suppose that when our economies were powering ahead we unfortunately left certain groupings behind
addressing and improving access to microcredit offers us the opportunity to address these past mistakes
reshaping the microcredit framework can help us reinforce and rebuild our economies from the community upwards
in ireland some commendable work has been done in this regard
in my own constituency of dublin there are four enterprise boards that have been set up since nineteen ninety-three and they have been supplying local-level support to microenterprises all over dublin city and county
the association of county and city boards in ireland announced its own financial stimulus package earlier this year aimed at supporting three zero enterprises around ireland and creating fifteen zero new jobs
the project also includes training for nearly fifty zero people
on a european level these are small figures but our microcredit enterprise in dublin and ireland is hugely significant
i sincerely hope that following on from this excellent report we see significant and coordinated action at community level to support the invaluable work that is being done by and for microenterprise at local and national level around the european union as it is a very important part of our economy today and a very important part of our economy into the future
