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Government publishes Action Plan for Jobs 2012 printable version

14 Feb 2012: posted by the editor - Ireland

Government's plan to rebuild the economy and create jobs
The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation today launched the first annual Action Plan for Jobs, the Government's plan to rebuild the economy and create jobs. The plan, which contains over 270 actions to be implemented in 2012 by all 15 Government Departments as well as 36 State agencies, will improve supports for job-creating businesses and remove barriers to employment-creation across the economy.

Action Plan for Jobs 2012 builds on work across Government to deliver reform and create economic growth, and will deliver on the third major strand of Government's economic programme. The first was the plan to rebuild the banking system's capacity to extend credit into the economy. The second was the plan to reduce the interest rates for the government, banks and enterprise by cutting the government deficit and downsizing the public sector. Building on the work of Ministers Noonan and Howlin to stabilise the public finances and the banking system, the third strand now is to build on this progress with the wider economic reforms needed to accelerate jobs growth and get the country working again.

Ministers Burton and Quinn are delivering on a fundamental transformation of the training and activation services that the State provides, and further details will be unveiled shortly.

Action Plan for Jobs 2012 is the first instalment in an ambitious multi-year process which aims to deliver on the Taoiseach's commitment to make Ireland the best small country in the world in which to do business, and increase the number of people at work in Ireland by 100,000 - from 1.8million to 1.9million - by 2016. The measures to be implemented in 2012 include:

1. Establish a "one-stop-shop" for small business supports, by dissolving the County and City Enterprise Boards and creating a new Micro-Enterprise and Small Business Unit in Enterprise Ireland that will work with Local Authorities to establish a new network of Local Enterprise Offices in each Local Authority

2. Implement a range of new supports for small and medium-sized businesses struggling to access credit, including a €150million Development Capital Scheme aimed at addressing a funding gap for mid-sized, high-growth indigenous companies with significant prospects for jobs and export growth. A Loan Guarantee Scheme and a €100million Micro-Finance Loan Scheme will also go live shortly

3. Better support indigenous companies to improve their performance , including:

· establishing a new Potential Exporters Division in Enterprise Ireland to identify more and better support indigenous exporters
· up to €1.2 million per year in extra funding for mentoring and management development networks
· increased mentoring of SMEs by top business leaders, multinationals and large Irish companies
· assisting small businesses to engage in R&D and innovation

4. Help more small businesses win big contracts, both from Government and from large multinationals

5. Implement the 'Succeed in Ireland' scheme, to provide direct incentives to members of the diaspora and others across the world to create jobs in Ireland

6. Turn more good ideas into good jobs, by implementing a Research Prioritisation Plan and enacting new laws to target the State's core €500million annual research budget towards more applied areas of research with strong potential for commercialisation and job-creation

7. Create a vibrant environment for business start-ups, attracting more international start-ups and making it easier for indigenous businesses to establish here

8. Measures to reduce costs, including a request to Government Department and Agencies to identify, by next month, charges levied on business that can be frozen or reduced for 24 months

9. The Government will identify a number of key sectors which will be major sources of job-creation and economic growth, such as:

· Manufacturing, including establishment of a Manufacturing Development Forum
· Establish a Health Innovation Hub to drive collaboration between the health system and the life sciences industry
· Publish and implement a Cross-Departmental Plan for the Green Economy
· Agri-food - including winning more investment from multinational food companies for Ireland
· Cloud computing - including a Cloud Computing Strategy for the Public Service and establishment of a research centre in cloud computing
· Establish a cluster development team for digital games
· Establish industry clusters in targeted sectors

The Plan is accompanied by a detailed list of the more than 270 actions which includes the measures required to implement each action, the Government body responsible for implementation in each case, and the deadline in 2012 by which each measure will be delivered. In order to police implementation of the measures, the Cabinet has sanctioned the establishment of a Monitoring Committee which will be chaired by the Taoiseach's Department and will also include representatives of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and Forfás. A number of expert staff from Forfás will work closely with the Department of the Taoiseach to assist with the monitoring process. Quarterly reports on implementation will be prepared and published by this monitoring group.

In addition, a series of regional meetings will be held over the coming months as part of the on-going process of consultation on job-creation. Details of these meetings will be announced shortly.

Launching Action Plan for Jobs 2012 today, the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD said: "The ultimate goal and top priority of Government has always been to get Ireland back to work. It is the all-consuming obsession of every Cabinet Minister at a time when we have never seen more people unemployed. Economic recovery has to be matched by a jobs recovery.

"When the Government was first formed we were presented with a series of urgent challenges that demanded immediate attention to stabilise the economy and restore a degree of confidence in Ireland. This was necessary for new investment and job growth. Now we must do more. This is why Government has put together this Action Plan for Jobs. We will target specific sectors with new policy supports and improve the way Government interacts with businesses by cutting costs and red tape. I will ensure that Government works hard to deliver on this ambitious plan".

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore TD said: "Creating Jobs is the number one priority for the Government. As highlighted by President Clinton last week, Ireland has the opportunity to be the gateway, not just to Europe, but to billions of consumers in emerging markets. The Government is determined to take every possible step to build up our trade links and to create more and better jobs."

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD said: "With over 300,000 job losses since a flawed economic model collapsed in 2008, and more than 315,000 people currently unemployed, job-creation is this Government's top priority. However, there is no 'big bang' solution to the jobs crisis built up through years of poor policy choices. It will take a period of hard work by businesses, Government, and people across the country to rebuild the economy brick by brick, reform by reform, to get back to sustainable enterprise-led growth where more businesses can start-up, expand and create new jobs.

"That is why this Government will implement Action Plan for Jobs 2012, an ambitious programme of reform across government and the economy to improve supports for business and remove barriers to job-creation in Ireland. We will improve access to finance for small businesses, reduce costs and red tape, and improve supports for exports, management and innovation.

"It will not be easy, but we are determined to implement the plan, rebuild the economy and create the jobs we so badly need".

Some of the key actions in 2012 that will be delivered on contained in the sections outlined above include:

1. Design and implement a new Development Capital Scheme, aimed at addressing a funding gap for mid-sized, high-growth, indigenous companies with significant prospects for jobs and export growth. €50million of State investment is expected to leverage up to an extra €100million in private sector funding.

2. Restructure the enterprise agencies in order to better target supports at indigenous businesses with job-creation potential:

· Establish a new Potential Exporters Division within Enterprise Ireland to target a wider group of potential exporting companies
· Establish a new "one-stop-shop" micro enterprise support structure through the dissolution of the existing CEB offices and the creation of a new Micro Enterprise and Small Business Unit in Enterprise Ireland that will work with Local Authorities to establish a new network of Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) in each Local Authority.
· Establish a joint Enterprise Ireland/IDA senior management team to work jointly on cross-agency priorities such as attracting international start-ups, improving mentoring for SMEs, and helping SMEs win supply contracts from multinationals

3. Extend the corporation tax exemption for start-up companies until 2014

4. Help more small businesses win big contracts, including:

· Measures to make public procurement more accessible to Irish SMEs, such as amending pre-qualification criteria, pre-qualification panels for SMEs and a new Procuring Innovation Programme where solutions rather than prescriptive products or services are procured.
· Measures to help more SMEs to win contracts with multinationals based here

5. Measures to target improved performance by indigenous companies, including:

· greater funding for mentoring and management development networks,
· long-term development programmes for 250 managers and short-term programmes for 700 managers,
· increased mentoring of SMEs by top business leaders, multinationals and large Irish companies
· 750 new buyers for exporting Irish companies in 2012
· 200 investments over €500,000 in EI-assisted firms in 2012

6. The Partial Credit Guarantee for SMEs struggling to access credit will go live - for every €100million extra in loans guaranteed under this demand-led scheme, over 1200 small businesses will benefit. The scheme has been designed and an operator has been selected for the scheme, legislation is almost finalised, and it is expected that the scheme will go live shortly.

7. The Micro Finance fund will go live, generating up to €100million in extra lending for micro-businesses over ten years

8. The second call for Innovation Fund Ireland will go live, worth approximately €60million, to invest in small Irish based high-tech companies

9. Attract more mobile international entrepreneurs to start businesses in Ireland through a €10million State fund for investment in international start-ups, improvements to immigration arrangements, a targeted marketing campaign, greater use of existing networks in the IDA and the diaspora

10. Launch the Diaspora Finder's Fee initiative to attract greater numbers of inward investors to Ireland

11. Establish a Global Irish Network of advocates to maximise the opportunities from Diaspora interest in Ireland and secure greater investment in Ireland

12. Develop a Strategic Investment Fund with a commitment of €250 million from the NPRF, which will seek up to €1billion from institutional investors in Ireland and overseas. The Fund will invest in infrastructure assets and projects in Ireland. NewERA will also develop and implement proposals for commercial investment in line with Programme for Government commitments in energy, water and broadband.

13. Accelerate the delivery of economic outcomes from Government investment in research by implementing a Research Prioritisation Plan and enact new legislation to target the State's research funding towards applied areas of research with strong potential for commercialisation and job-creation.

14. The R&D tax credit system will be further improved, making it easier for small and large companies to invest in research and development.

15. Initiatives targeting a number of key sectors where we see particular potential for job-creation, such as:

· Manufacturing, including establishment of a Manufacturing Development Forum
· Establish a Health Innovation Hub to drive collaboration between the health system and the life sciences industry
· Publish and implement a Cross-Departmental Plan for the Green Economy
· Agri-food - including winning more investment from multinational food companies for Ireland
· Cloud computing - including a Cloud Computing Strategy for the Public Service and establishment of a research centre in cloud computing
· Establish a cluster development team for digital games
· Establish industry clusters in these targeted sectors

Links to Documents:

Action Plan for Jobs 2012:
http://www.djei.ie/publications/2012APJ.pdf

Action Plan for Jobs 2012 Table of Actions
http://www.djei.ie/publications/2012APJ_Annex.pdf

Tags: Action Plan for Jobs 2012

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