Chris Horn: Time to ask searching questions of all candidates

The general election, as you may have heard, is imminent. In 2011, Enda Kenny campaigned to make Ireland the best small country in the world in which to do business. Five years later, how well have the Taoiseach and his Government delivered on this?

Fortunately, it is easy to find out. The 2011 Programme for Government committed to making the "the whole of Government . . . more transparent, accountable and efficient". And so to report on how well the Government is doing, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform established the IrelandStat website at irelandstat.gov.ie.

This is the scorecard by which the Government wishes itself to be measured. It is a report card across almost all Government activities: the economy, health, education, public safety, infrastructure, environment, social protection and public service.

Coming up to the election, you would expect the report to be right up to date. It should be a critical tool in the campaign for re-election. I encourage you to visit the site and take a look.

Within the economic scorecard, there is a section on innovation. It reports the following metrics. Gross expenditure on research and development (R&D) rose 11 per cent from 2011-2013; there are no figures for 2014 or 2015. The number of Enterprise Ireland client companies engaged in significant R&D has grown by 7 per cent from 2011-2012; there are no figures for 2013, 2014 or 2015.

The number of patents filed from commercialisation of publicly funded research has fallen 16 per cent from 2011-2013; again, there are no figures for 2014 or 2015. The employment numbers in high-tech manufacturing have risen by 7 per cent from 2011-2013; there is no further data. There is no data at all since 2011 on the high-tech manufacturing exports as a percentage of total exports.

Finally, Ireland’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index fell one place from ninth to 10th between 2011 and 2013.

Are these the appropriate metrics to measure the Government policy on innovation? Well, they are the ones that the Government itself has chosen. In writing this article, why did I not go and ferret out up-to-date metrics? Well, I did think about doing so, but then why should I have to go elsewhere? The IrelandStat website is where the Government wants the electorate to understand and see its actual measurable performance.

My experience in the private sector is that a chief executive and executive team agree a set of scorecard metrics with its board, including baseline measures and targets. I have found that usually there is some gamesmanship, in which the chief executive tries to underset the targets so as to be sure of beating them, while the board tries to dig in to the true capabilities and expectations of the organisation.

Immature tool

When the scorecard is then presented to the board to report on progress, many of the metrics have been exceeded. The chief executive and the team are then congratulated for a job well done.

No doubt Enda Kenny and his team saw the analogy with metric-driven management in the private sector, but IrelandStat appears to be an immature tool.

In the Innovation section, it includes the baseline 2011 numbers but does not establish targets. I am also surprised that the Government has not remained committed to its own scorecard, by keeping it up to date and driving positive numbers and results. Nevertheless, these are the measures and results by which the Government wants us to evaluate their term in office for the election.

What then should we look for from the various political parties in the forthcoming campaign to guide our voting?

I would certainly urge that every party should commit to maturing the IrelandStat website as a report card. At the outset of the new government, there should, of course, be a re-evaluation of what should be the most appropriate metrics and targets and a process put in place that guarantees that all metrics are timely.

A revised set of IrelandStat metrics, of course, depends in part on what are the policy objectives and tactics of the new government. For innovation, is the focus of publicly funded R&D creating the best impact for the economy and society at large and how should this be measured?

Cross-industry initiatives

Is the flow of private investment into innovation adequate and how should it be further cultivated? Can public sector spend on procurement be appropriately used so as to further stimulate innovation, and should the percentage of procurement spend directed to innovation be increased?

Are there cross-industry initiatives that could be taken in Ireland for the global market, given the profusion of multinational firms operating here across so many market sectors?

Are self-employed entrepreneurs to continue to be treated as second-class citizens when it comes to taxation and despite the Constitution's commitment for equality of all citizens before the law? Are the incentives for entrepreneurs and private investors in start-ups to be brought into line with or even exceed what is available across the Border in Northern Ireland and in Britain?

It will be an interesting campaign. Ask each candidate about IrelandStat and, if they are in government, how they would intend to show their own progress.