Action Plan for Jobs 2012 is the first installment 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
· 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. 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
While there are alot of positives within this new report for small business, there is no meat on it’s bones. How will they achieve this? Will they introduce percetages or quota’s for SMEs in the tender process? Why are businesses still waiting for the loan guarantee scheme which was promised before christmas, but is now rumoured to be July of this year before it is launched.
A point lost on goverment at the moment is that time is of the essence. By the time you the reader goes to bed tonight five businesses in this country will have closed their doors forever. Now is not the time for reports, now is the time for action. We have the report, now lets have the results.
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