382 actions set out in Government's 2015 plan for jobs
On January 29th An Taoiseach, An Tanaiste and the three Ministers at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation launched the Action Plan for Jobs 2015.
The launch was held at the global headquarters of ICON plc, an Irish Enterprise Ireland client which employs 11,000 people in 38 countries, including 1000 in Ireland. On the day ICON also announced the creation of 200 innovation jobs which are part-funded by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland.
The Action Plan for Job's Five Strategic Ambitions are:
To support 100,000 additional jobs by 2016
To get Ireland back to a top-five ranking in international competitiveness
To stimulate the domestic economy and generate employment in locally traded sector
To build an indigenous engine of growth that drives up the export market share of Irish companies
To build world-class clusters in key sectors of opportunity
The Plan which contains 382 Actions also places an emphasis on six key Disruptive Reforms:
National Talent Drive
Delivering Regional Potential
Europe’s Energy Innovation Hub
Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland
Increasing Entrepreneurial Activity
Intellectual Property in Enterprise
Enterprise Ireland in line with previous years remains a central delivery agency for the Action Plan. Of the 382 actions Enterprise Ireland is leading 74 for which there are 100 deliverables and is taking a support role in the delivery of a further 39 actions with 55 deliverables.
Five year, €250m regional jobs plan launched
This week (11th of February) the Government also announced details of its 5-year, €250million strategy aimed at accelerating jobs recovery in every part of the country.
Action Plan for Jobs – Regional is based on the principle that the best way to support job-creation in towns and villages across the country is to support agencies and organisations within each region to build on the particular strengths and assets of their area and drive new job-creation strategies and projects.
The strategy will be based on the successful Action Plan for Jobs model of setting out lists of actions with timelines and responsibility allocated, and then monitoring implementation. The initiative is being led by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD and will include three main elements:
• Each of the 8 regions will develop its own Action Plan. Lead responsibility for coordinating the development of the plan will be assigned to an Enterprise Ireland or IDA Ireland official in each region. Stakeholders including enterprise agencies, educational institutions, local authorities, business and community groups will be responsible for working together to develop the Action Plan in each region. The first plan will be published in the coming weeks for the Midlands, with 6 plans published by July and all 8 in place by Q3
• To support and encourage regional stakeholders in working together, up to €100million in Enterprise Ireland funding will be made available over 5 years through a series of competitive calls. The first tranche of €50million will be made available from 2015. Funding under these programmes will be allocated on a competitive basis, with most funds awarded to regional projects offering the best prospects for job-creation
•IDA Ireland will roll out a 5-year €150million capital investment programme to help attract more multinational jobs into each region. This programme will build on the recent investment by IDA in facilities in Athlone and Waterford, and will include investments over the coming years in building advance manufacturing and office facilities in Sligo, Tralee, Castlebar, Galway, Dundalk, Limerick, Athlone, Carlow and Waterford.
