asked the Minister for Industry and Energy having regard to the considerable employment given by small and medium-sized businesses in Ireland, if he will indicate the nature and time-scale of action he proposes to take to implement the Council of Europe's recommendation on small and medium-sized enterprises.

I have seen the report referred to by the Deputy. Measures along the lines of those recommended in the report for the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises have already been implemented and continue to be developed by my Department and the State agencies for which I have responsibility. In particular I would refer the Deputy to (i) the IDA's small industries and enterprise development programmes; (ii) Shannon Development's small industry pilot project in the mid-west to devise and test new methods of promoting small indigenous industry; (iii) the establishment in Limerick of the innovation centre for small industry to develop and test new processes and products; (iv) the business advisory service of the Irish Productivity Centre, which provides a wide range of consultancy services for small firms; (v) the IDA's and SFADCo's programmes for the development of craft industries.