Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation Richard Bruton has pledged to increase the amount of business the State awards to Irish companies.

Speaking at the launch of the Guaranteed Irish campaign, Mr Bruton said it was common knowledge that a higher proportion of public procurement in Ireland goes to overseas companies than in most EU countries.

He said public procurement was a source where better opportunities for small businesses could be developed.

The minister said that qualification thresholds for tenders were sometimes set too high and so automatically excluded smaller businesses.

Mr Bruton said they were working with the Department of Finance to open up those opportunities.

The Government was looking across the board at opportunities to reduce costs within its control, he added.

Guaranteed Irish represents 300 companies producing 1,250 Irish products with an estimated turnover of €1.2bn a year. Those companies employ around 23,700 employees.

Mr Bruton said that if people started to think Irish in their purchasing, it would have an impact on many other potential companies.

New research carried out by Amárach on the impact of 'Guaranteed Irish' on the economy reveals the average household spends just under €16 a week on Irish products and services.

It also shows 83% of Irish consumers believe it is now more important to buy Irish goods and services than it was five years ago.

Amárach found that if the average household converted another €4 of their weekly budget to Irish companies, they could create 6,200 jobs a year.

