Initiatives aim to deliver 100,000 jobs by 2016

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday pledged to help create 100,000 jobs by 2016 with the announcement of a series of job-boosting initiatives.

The 2012 “Action Plan for Jobs” contains 270 measures that are to be implemented across all Government departments and State agencies this year.

A similar action plan will be launched in 2013.

Among the measures are a €50 million State development capital scheme aimed at businesses which want to scale up which will leverage €100 million in private investment; up to €1.2 million per year in extra funding for mentoring and management networks, and the establishment of an export division within Enterprise Ireland.

Many of the most specific measures had been announced or mooted before.

These include the introduction of a partial loan guarantee scheme for small businesses, the implementation of legislation to reform wage-setting mechanisms, the introduction of a “finder’s fee” for people who encourage companies to come to Ireland, and the replacement of city and county enterprise boards with a network of local enterprise offices.

Other pro-business measures in the plan are a requirement that Government departments and agencies identify by next month which charges on businesses can be frozen or reduced for two years.

The public procurement process – the system by which the State tenders its contracts – is to be amended to make it more accessible to small and medium enterprises.

The initiative also includes measures to attract foreign entrepreneurs and start-up businesses into Ireland by appointing “start-up” ambassadors and promoting the State’s €10 million fund for international start-ups.

Pointing out that part of Silicon Valley’s success was its ability to attract non-indigenous enterprises to the area, Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton said Ireland needed to cultivate a “start-up environment” and attract “mid-size companies who might want a gateway into Europe”.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore said Irish embassies and the IDA would play a key role in targeting potential investors.

The plan also highlights particular sectors that are perceived as offering the most potential for growth in Ireland.

These include cloud computing, digital media, information and communications technology, life sciences, agriculture and manufacturing.

A number of specific actions related to each industry are outlined in the document.

Announcing the jobs plan yesterday, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the Government wanted to target a mixture of old and new industries.

“I call these companies the old reliables and the new reliables. The old reliables [are] agri-food, tourism and manufacturing. The new reliables are emerging areas like cloud computing, ICT and life sciences.”

He said a significant aim of the initiative was to improve the competitiveness of Irish businesses and “radically improve the way the Government and business interact by cutting both costs and red tape”.

The plan estimates that 20,000 of the 100,000 jobs created by 2016 will be in the field of manufacturing, 30,000 will be in internationally traded services, with the remaining 50,000 jobs indirect spin-off positions.

Stressing the importance of action and implementation, the Taoiseach said he would “personally oversee” the implementation of the plan.

Each agency and department will be assessed on a quarterly basis by a monitoring committee which will come under the remit of the Department of the Taoiseach.