We have had reports of this type before but, given the dire state of the economy, we must implement this one, writes JOHN COLLINS

THE BUSINESS people, public servants, financiers and academics who turned up at the Science Gallery for the launch of the Innovation Ireland report may be forgiven for having a sense of deja vu.

We have had similar ambitious reports on how Ireland can harness technology to kick-start its economy before. In the 1990s it was the Information Society strategy, in the Noughties we were going to build a Knowledge Economy, and yesterday we heard how the Innovation Ireland report would help deliver the Smart Economy.

Tax breaks to stimulate certain activities, government procurement policy being used to seed the market and investments in key infrastructure such as broadband and lab facilities have been recommended before. But this time the economic backdrop means inaction is not an option.

“Restoring Ireland’s cost competitiveness and simply waiting for global demand to pick up will not be enough,” said Taoiseach Brian Cowen at the launch.

The business members of the taskforce believe it can provide the shot in the arm needed to get the economy growing again at a rapid pace. The problem is that Government policy through the recession has been to cut spending rather than provide a fiscal stimulus. The report calls for significant investments in a number of areas but crucially does not attempt to cost these other than to say whether they are high cost, low cost or cost neutral.

The tax measures in particular are designed to be cost neutral or even revenue enhancing as they would attract foreign businesses.

Anna Scally, a tax partner with KPMG who sat on the taskforce, was keen to point that any suggested changes to the tax regime were most definitely not designed to benefit the rich but bona fide entrepreneurs willing to take a risk to create jobs and wealth.

There is an admission that current funding for new businesses is not adequate. The report calls for the formation of a State seed capital fund which would make investments in early-stage businesses. Recipients could then pull down matching funding from Enterprise Ireland. It also calls for the immediate establishment of a €500 million innovation fund which would co-invest with international venture capitalists and encourage them to base their European operations here.

The fund was first announced in December 2008 and the report reveals that the National Treasury Management Agency is now laying the groundwork for its establishment. With Nama and managing the National Pension Fund also under the NTMA’s remit, it will be doing well to establish a half-billion-euro venture capital fund.

It was clear from the differences between a draft from last month, reported in this paper yesterday, and the final version published yesterday, that political considerations came to bear on the final document. The draft made reference to detailed costings but these never materialised in the final version.

The headline figures about job creation, while still in the report, have been toned down. The figure of 117,00 direct jobs, not including any multiplier effect in service providers, is based on growing the percentage of the population working in high-tech jobs, currently at 6.2 per cent, to 10.7 per cent – the figure achieved in the leading regions of England.

Innovation Ireland provides an ambitious vision of where we can be in 10 years’ time if everyone in Ireland pulls together.

The bad medicine of a recession may be just the thing to pull “team Ireland” together. Unlike reports in the past, clear timelines and suggestions for implementation have been provided. This is the Government’s job creation strategy for recovery – now it must deliver on it.