IRELAND is in danger of becoming over reliant on investment by multinational corporations to the detriment of home based companies, a conference in Dublin heard yesterday. Speaking at Opportunities 97, the director of the Small Firms Association, Mr Brendan Butler, said that of the 51,000 new jobs created in 1996, 43,000 came from small companies employing less than 50 people.

"Any rational examination of employment growth potential would point to small businesses as the most likely provider of jobs in the future," he added.

He pointed out that across the developed world, large companies were down sizing and sub contracting many of their services. This represented an opportunity for small firms, he said, which, with help from the government, could provide those services.