A single ministry to deal with all of the issues of immigration, including those of immigrant entrepreneurs, should be created by the Government, according to First Step Microfinance.
The organisation, which provides loans of less than €25,000 to entrepreneurs who would not be able to get finance from mainstream lenders, said there was a need to develop a State co-ordinated, centralised point of information for all immigrant entrepreneur requirements, such as funding, guidelines, business start-up programmes, information on how to open a bank account, criteria for loans and cultural differences for starting a business in Ireland.
A survey by First Step Microfinance found that Ireland has a poor track record in promoting ethnic entrepreneurship.
While Revenue figures suggest there are 100 ethnic-minority businesses registered each month, there is no official recorded data on definitive numbers of ethnic business start-ups, according to John Cranfield, chief executive of First Step.
Access to funding is perceived as the greatest single barrier for ethnic entrepreneurs. The share of immigrant applicants receiving a loan is lower than for non-immigrants, it found.
Ireland is out of line with other EU countries regarding immigrant residency status.
There are greater barriers for immigrant entrepreneurs who require "business permission" permits, according to First Step.
The number of business permission permits is decreasing - in 2001, a total of 135 were granted, while in 2003, only 73 were granted.
First Step has called for intercultural training for all staff involved with enterprise agencies to address cultural differences.
All enterprise agencies should have distinct and clearly-flagged initiatives to target ethnic minority businesses and should have both assessors and trainers of various ethnicities.
Access to finance awareness interventions aimed specifically at ethnic minorities should be a priority for all agencies, it said.
At the launch of the report Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said the new Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, which will provide for the status of long-term residents, will help overcome some of the barriers that immigrants face in doing business.
