executives, and academic leaders who contributed to our global survey on which many of this report's findings are based.
licensing, recruitment of experienced scientists and engineers and other forms of knowledge transfer. Momentum in EVS is shifting from research to development,
often amplified by the need for job creation to match rising populations: energy, food and water demands.
Nearly half of industry executives report having only some success, with remaining industry responses split between rarely having success to regularly having success in the translation of R&d into new or improved products.
In the past year, 22%of industry executives reported significant technology growth and another 56%slight-to-moderate technology growth affecting their industry.
Seven out of ten of the industry executives report productivity gains in the last two years, with 20%noting significant improvements.
The results from industry executives who track return on investment is one of a generally improving bottom-line impact of research and development activities,
and 44%of the respondents are concerned their aging R&d infrastructure is affecting their work, again to a greater degree than any other industry.
R&d in this industry also works to improve process efficiency and reduce the costs of the large scale production facilities.
S. researchers is the shortage of skilled R&d workers. Finally, there is some commonality in the challenge of translating research into products,
%Competition 14%Translating Research into Products 10%15%Finding New Collaborators 17%Skilled worker Shortages 16%Rankings of Research Impact Metrics Broad Factors Influencing Research
In terms of total (including multiplier effects) employment or output impacts in the economy, the values associated with scientific R&d are smaller than many high-tech industries.
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B Sustainable Growth and EU 2020 Regional Innovation Monitor Plus Regional Innovation Report West Transdanubia technopolis group in cooperation with Andrea Szalavetz, independent expert
establishing a network of regional experts with thematic specialisation, and organising specialised workshops taking into account the relevance
Ensure the availability of skilled human resources for the innovation-driven renewal of the region's key industries The main obstacle of innovation-driven renewal is the scarcity of highly skilled human resources.
Aligning the supply of graduates with the demand of the regional labour market necessitates actions that target the improvement of the curricula, the services and the research capacities of the relevant higher education institutions.
such as enhancement of regional economic actors'R&d-based upgrading and improvement of the supply of skilled human resources.
%Note that there are several micro-regions with high unemployment, explained by a fragmented settlement system3 and by a number of poorly accessible, peripheral areas.
%Labour productivity is slightly higher than the national average, though lower than what the outstanding share of foreign direct investment would suggest.
WT ranks only fourth among the seven Hungarian regions in terms of apparent labour productivity in industry.
The employment share of agriculture was somewhat higher than the national or the EU average 5. 7%.Labour productivity is however much lower than in the neighbouring Burgenland,
mainly because of the lack of farmers'agricultural production-specific knowledge and low willingness to form cooperatives
The public sector was an important employment provider in WT with nearly 19%of total employment in 2011,
on Market size Labour market efficiency Higher educa: on/Training and Lifelong Learning Infrastructure Macroeconomic stability Ins:
ons WIDER FRAMEWORK CONDITIONS Employment in 2 and 3 star clusters Specialisa: on in number of local units by NACE Employment in Science & Technology(%)Employment in public sector(%)Employment in business sector(%)Employment in industry(%)Employment in agriculture(%)Regional Compe::
veness Index 2013 Labour produc: vity growth Long term unemployment rate GDP per capita ECONOMIC INDICATORS HU22 Nyugat-Dunántúl Performance rela:
ve to HU Performance rela: ve to EU 6 Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 1. 2 Recent Trends in Regional Innovation Performance Among the Hungarian convergence regions, West Transdanubia features the most spectacular development
in terms of innovation performance, albeit starting from a low basis in the mid-2000s. WT used to rank last among Hungarian regions in terms of all major innovation indicators.
One exception (i e. where WT's performance exceeds the EU average) is the share of employment in medium high and high-tech manufacturing.
onal innovators(%)Product or process innovators(%)BUSINESS INNOVATION INDICATORS Share of innovators receiving public financial support Change in Employment in MH--HT(%-point) Structural funds
ons (per mln pop) Total R&d personnel(%)Employment in knowledge--intensive services(%)Empl. in medium--high/high-tech manufacturing(%)EPO patent applica:
on R&d(%GDP) Government R&d(%GDP) Business R&d(%GDP) Employees with ISCED 5--6(%)RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY INDICATORS HU22 Nyugat-Dunántúl Performance rela:
The second major challenge is to ensure the availability of skilled human resources for the innovation-driven renewal of the region's key industries.
One of the most important obstacles of an innovation-driven renewal is the scarcity of highly skilled human resources, especially of graduates in engineering, mathematics and natural sciences.
It is indispensable to align the supply of graduates with the demand of the regional labour market,
county-level municipalities neither possess any experts (huge capacity gap) nor have any experience in such a planning-programming exercise.
VÁTI Hungarian Public Nonprofit Company for Regional Development and Town planning (implementing the human resources related part of WT's Regional Development Programme),
The majority of NIO's experts were fired. Currently the government is planning to create a new institution, the National Research Development and Innovation Office
and Ministry of Human resources. VÁTI was dissolved and merged into the Hungarian Economic Development Centre (MAG Zrt).
Responsibility for the administration and management of the human resources development projects of WT's regional operational programme,
Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 17 These institutional changes coupled with the firing of experts, dispersion and redistribution of authorities and responsibilities have slowed necessarily down the absorption of EU Structural Funds.
5) the firing of the lion's share of past experts the allocation of funding from EU Structural Funds (that accounted on the average for 57%of annual government budget outlays on R&d in Hungary over the period between 2007 201310
frequent organisational restructuring steps that resulted in fluctuations in staff, and broken network linkages Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 19 3. Innovation Policy Instruments and Orientations 3. 1 The Regional Innovation Policy Mix Compared to the 2000s,
3) to the promotion of technology transfer, e g. through rapid prototyping; 4) to the promotion of companies'foreign market access, through training, employment of foreign trade, marketing and innovation management experts.
Instead of direct cash transfers to companies, innovation services ought to be developed and diversified. New requirements include the expansion of business angels'networks, enhancement of regional business incubation services;
2). Some policy measures targeted human resources development:‘‘Support to cross-border collaboration in the field of vocational and adult education'(number of regional beneficiaries:
Some measures combined investment in new technology and employment increase (Support to complex technology development and employment':
and the Human resources Development Operational Programme. GINOP contains all the innovation related priorities elaborated for the 2014 2020 programming period.
and the Human resources Development OP contains the priority of investment in higher education institutions'infrastructure and human resources development).
provided they contribute to job creation as well. Otherwise, innovation support can be accessed to only from the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme.
and innovation € 600k National Development Agency http://palyazat. gov. hu/doc/3555 Support to research of future-oriented ICT technologies and to ensuring the supply of IT-experts
. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/regionalinnovation/monitor/supportmeasure/support-research-futureoriented-ict-technologies-and-ensuringsupply-it-experts Source:
Furthermore, county-level foundations for enterprise promotion are also important services providers (consultancy, fundraising) to actors (among others) in AM.
regional or county level) organisations dedicated specifically to the promotion of AM. There is however a private, for profit organisation,
the promotion of key enabling technologies; support to industryuniversity collaboration; the establishment/development of technology centres/competence centres, and science parks;
‘Complex technology development'(dedicated specifically to SMES)) suggested that an important barrier of successful project implementation was that most of the calls for tenders prescribed‘job creation
KPMG suggested that employment-oriented programmes should be separated from technology development oriented ones. Another finding of the evaluation report was received that SMES substantial share of total support,
and collaboration and human resources development. 21 Earlier cluster promotion measures targeted only clustering and the development of the services portfolio of the newly formulated clusters.
Centrope tt (the former CENTRIS) is an international experts community for technology transfer and innovation support. 22 Several regional actors are members of this community,
The project included among others work packages aiming to develop technology for advanced manufacturing processes in the automotive industry.
Other work packages included productrelated basic research (internal combustion engines; and research on the integration of digital technologies in products (intelligent vehicles.
23 Cluster promotion measures can in principle be labelled as measures targeting the local innovative millieu. However, measures that promoted clustering
Cluster promotion has shifted towards support to innovative companies within accredited innovation clusters, hence, cluster promotion has also become an instrument of allocating grants directly to business enterprises.
Regional Innovation Monitor Plus 31 8. The dominance of supply-oriented measures at the expense of demand-and commercialisation-oriented ones;
despite the fact that over time, increasingly sophisticated innovation promotion measures have been incorporated into the policy mix. New, sophisticated measures,
such as the promotion of cluster-based collaboration, industry-university innovation collaboration, promotion of start-ups and spin-offs, etc. complemented the traditional supply-oriented ones,
but their share in total innovation promotion is still unimportant. Policy learning is reflected by some changes in the composition of the measures, for example,
the conditions of the cluster-based promotion opportunities were made soon much stricter than initially, since a plethora of new‘clusters'emerged
Current cluster promotion is restricted to accredited innovation clusters. This title is quite difficult to acquire
pricing issues (of the use of the new 24 There is a huge academic literature about the economics of incomplete contracts that leave contracting parties rights
Some of the conditions of eligibility for support were considered superfluous by the experts who drafted the evaluation report, for example,
Similarly, job creation as a postulate of support to R&d projects is also burdensome for beneficiaries.
including the number of their employees and the volume of applicants'net sales. As for the impact of the measures, the report found that it contributed to some extent to territorial cohesion,
and significantly contributed to the increase of employment at beneficiaries. Beneficiaries'total assets also increased significantly.
The evaluation report contended that existing collaborative projects do not represent real collaboration, just‘side by side'work.
Evaluation experts recommended that universities'basic research projects should be addressed separately from applied and collaborative (industry-university) undertakings
the primary task of the former group is to ensure alignment between the supply of graduates and the demand of the regional labour market,
an indigenous automotive supplier with 128 employees and sales of €4. 9m in 2013 among the 251 beneficiaries.
Over a period of three years (between 2011 and 2013) the company gained support from three additional calls facilitating investment in new technology, development of human resources and development of new services based on new technology.
Sales increased by 16%over the surveyed period and employment by 23%.%Analysis of additional documents (newspaper articles, cluster documents, documents of industry university collaboration, the company's website, etc.
Nevertheless, according to the interviewed expert, it would have been more reasonable to consider a region's innovation potential
of the supply of skilled human resources. Despite a range of policy instruments and programmes targeting the improvement of the infrastructural conditions of higher education, especially in engineering and natural sciences,
and promotion of industry-university collaboration were considered more or less successful (by the interviewed stakeholders). Nevertheless, multinational companies'regional embeddedness is still to be improved,
Since Operational Programmes laid much emphasis on cluster-based innovation promotion and several specifically dedicated programmes have been announced for accredited innovation clusters
and Creative Industry Cluster) and the funding Zala County Foundation for Enterprise Promotion gained and the activity it has carried out in the framework of SEE IDWOOD programme (Clustering, knowledge,
promotion of technology transfer, e g. through rapid prototyping; promotion of the establishment of new technology oriented spin-offs and start-ups;
support to inter-firm collaboration so that indigenous SMES achieve the status of a strategic supplier,
the objectives of‘inclusive development'and of‘promotion of place-based cohesion'will not be met, since fewer underprivileged SMES in lagging microregions will be able to submit applications for support.
relative to HU22 HU EU27 EU27 HU ECONOMIC INDICATORS GDP per capita (Euros) 10100 9900 25200 2011 Eurostat 40,1 102,0 Long term unemployment rate 2,
90 5, 00 5, 10 2013 Eurostat 175,9 172,4 Labour productivity growth(%)4, 05 3, 85 2, 19 2001-2011
Eurostat 184,7 105,2 RCI 2013-0, 54-0, 64 0, 00 2013 JRC 63,5 112,2 Share of employment in agriculture 0, 06
0, 05 0, 05 2011 Eurostat 114,6 117,4 Share of employment in industry (including construction) 0, 39 0, 31 0, 25 2011 Eurostat
157,3 128,1 Share of employment in business 0 31 0, 30 2011 Eurostat 100,0 100,0 Share of employment in public sector 0, 19 0, 23 0, 25 2011 Eurostat 76,2 82,9
Share of employment in S&t 0, 05 0, 07 0, 09 2011 Eurostat 50,8 67,5 Specialisation in number of local units by NACE 0, 34
0, 30 0, 36 2012 ISI-Eurostat 95,1 112,5 Employment in 2 and 3 star clusters (strong clusters) 24,70 39,16 31,39 2010 MERIT
-CO 78,7 63,1 WIDER FRAMEWORK CONDITIONS Institutions 20,00 20,00 43 55 2010 RCI 45,9 100,0 Macroeconomic stability 58,20 2010 RCI 100,0 100,0 Infrastructure 80,00 76,86 74,64 2010 RCI 107,2 104,1
Higher education/Training and Lifelong Learning 69,00 67,86 70,07 2010 RCI 98,5 101,7 Labour market efficiency 47,00 40,86 55,03 2010 RCI 85,4 115,0
Source Performance relative to Performance relative to RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY INDICATORS Employees with ISCED 5-8(%all employees, ISCED 2011) 20,3 27,2 33,5 2013
1 100,0 EPO patent applications (per mln population) 16,83 17,90 110,48 2009 Eurostat 15,2 94,0 Employment in medium-high & high-tech manufacturing(%total employment
) 14,50 8, 30 5, 60 2012 Eurostat 258,9 174,7 Employment in knowledge-intensive services(%total employment) 25,10 35,00 39,00 2012 Eurostat
6 100,7 Structural funds on core RTDI (Euros per mln population) 155,58 155,83 63,01 2007-2013 Eurostat 246,9 99,8 Change in Employment in medium
, T. D. 6 Update on the Action Plan for Jobs Five Strategic Objectives 8 Executive Summary 9 1. Building on Reform and Measuring Success 15
. 1 Easier to do Business 95 8. 2 Institutionalising the Drive for Competitiveness 98 8. 3 Infrastructure Investment to Underpin Employment Growth 99 8. 4
And we are setting a goal to bring employment to 2. 1 million by 2018 2 years earlier than our original target effectively restoring all jobs lost during the economic crisis.
Many of the actions in this Plan build on the important work we have done since 2012, in areas such as education and skills, development of Irish industry and FDI,
Our work with the Global Irish Network and with our industry partners will continue to help identify promising actions across our economy.
deliver full employment and to maintain responsible management of the public finances. We will also set out a medium-term capital plan designed to address emerging economic and social infrastructure bottlenecks that could constrain the economy.
Work is progressing on a national enterprise strategy and a skills strategy. A new strategy to grow the International Financial services Sector will shortly be brought to Government.
Our work in 2015 will also have a particular focus on regional development, medium-term labour market activation and welfare reform,
to ensure that work always pays, as well as strategies for a number of other specific sectors. 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 5 This Government has worked hard to return stability to the economy and to the labour market.
We know that what has been achieved has only been possible because of the strength of the commitment of The irish people to turning this country around.
With this Plan we are reaffirming that job creation remains the number one priority across Government. Enda Kenny, T. D. Taoiseach January 2015 6 Foreword by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, T. D. When I launched the first Action Plan
and Tánaiste in February 2012 unemployment stood at 15.1 per cent. The idea that our economy could put 100
000 extra people back to work by 2016 was met with questioning, and often dismissive, looks.
and in partnership with industry and workers, we could reverse the catastrophic collapse that previous policy choices had created.
The response of Irish entrepreneurs, managers and workers to the challenge of rebuilding our economy has been so strong,
reach full employment by 2018 but only if we keep pushing hard to deliver the right type of policies.
and generate employment in locally traded sector 4. To build an indigenous engine of growth that drives up the export market share of Irish companies 5. To build world-class clusters in key sectors of opportunity In addition,
1: 1) 16,420 From 2011 to 2014 direct employment in EI firms is up by almost 16,420 and an additional 21,350 indirect jobs.%
when the Government launched the Action Plan for Jobs From 2011 to 2014 direct employment in IDA firms is up by 22,265 and an additional 15,600 indirect jobs.
and value investment € 1st in the world for investment incentives investment € 1st in the world for availability of skilled labour labour 2nd in the Eurozone for ease of doing business business Overall,
and generate employment in locally traded sectors Spend by IDA assisted firms in the local economy up 13%from 2011 Since 2011,
IDA 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 9 Executive Summary Significant progress has been made since 2011 in restructuring
and in reforming the way we support business and job creation in Ireland. Now in its fourth year, the Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) process continues to have an impact.
The rate of unemployment has declined from a peak of 15.1 per cent at the start of 2012 to below 10.6 per cent at end 2014.
In addition to the progress on our competitiveness performance and job creation, we have stabilised the public finances
and delivering on the Government's concerted approach to addressing the reform and employment challenge.
and bring employment to 2. 1 million in 2018. The Action Plan for Jobs 2015 will be a further step along the way in meeting this medium-term goal for Ireland.
and stimulate the domestic economy through local employment in sectors such as construction and retail, tourism, hospitality and agriculture and food.
setting out the vision for enterprise development over that period to secure full employment, and the key supports and business environment measures to be taken to ensure Irish based enterprises are among the most innovative, productive, competitive and entrepreneurial in the world.
and job creation strategies in a range of areas in 2015 include: An updated overall macroeconomic strategy to grow the economy,
deliver full employment and balance the public finances, to be published in the Spring; A medium-term capital plan designed to address emerging economic and social infrastructure bottlenecks that could constrain the recovery;
An updated labour market activation and welfare reform strategy; A medium term strategy for early years and school age care to support increased parental participation in the labour force;
and A medium term agribusiness strategy. Disruptive Reforms Disruptive Reforms are discrete projects within the APJ framework.
and enhancing employer engagement at all levels, using collaborative funding initiatives to ensure skills supply meets demand to underpin the New Economy.
and that we provide a great place to live and work. Delivering Regional Potential This will include the launch of Competitive Funding Initiatives of up to €25 million to promote innovative collaborations to support entrepreneurship
It is estimated that every direct job created in agency assisted firms indirectly supports another job in the wider economy thereby making a strong contribution to the overall target of getting to full employment in 2018.
Continued employment growth in the construction retail and tourism sectors will ensure the target of 100,000 extra people at work by 2016 is achieved as early as possible in 2015.
Stimulating the Domestic Economy through local employment We will take a range of measures to ensure that the success in international markets is mirrored in the domestic economy
and in food processing will impact directly on employment prospects in rural areas and provide significant stimulus to local economies.
The Food Competitiveness Fund will help to improve productivity and employment in the food processing sector.
To support entrepreneurship we will implement a new Food Works initiative to support startups in the regions.
The Policy Statement has an overall target of bringing employment in the sector to 250,000 and overseas revenue to €5 billion by 2025.
Increasing Activation of the Unemployed The focus of the Pathways to Work strategy is to ensure that the increase in employment generated by the actions under this Plan translates into a reduction in the number of people dependent on jobseeker payments
The objectives for 2015 are to roll out the Employment and Youth Activation Charter, begin the new account management approach to employers,
roll out Jobpath, continue to roll out the Youth Guarantee initiatives, and introduce a Back to Work Family Dividend.
Increasing Entrepreneurial Activity The launch of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOS) was delivered a major reform in 2014.
and greater awareness and promotion of health and safety best practice. Improvements to be delivered in 2015 include the rollout of new company law
which is reducing the administrative burden of company registration and filing systems, the new Workplace Relations Commission, trusted partners for the issuing of work permits,
and helps ensure that actions effectively contribute to the over-arching objective of increased employment.
We are introducing closer monitoring of impacts to measure performance and to test areas of opportunity against international benchmarks in the areas of job creation, startups, market penetration, innovation, efficiency of public sector interface with enterprises, cost competitiveness, finance
The results of the concerted action on job creation are being seen: 26,800 extra people at work in the past 12 months;
Regions with history of high unemployment such as the South East which Government has brought a new focus to,
The South East has had the largest decrease in unemployment in the State; and Exports continuing to grow,
The aim of the Action Plan for Jobs is to create the conditions to support private sector-led, export-oriented economic growth and job creation.
and implementing the Action Plans for Jobs is part of the delivery of significant institutional change and reform in Ireland across the employment, training and economic development system.
Until we get to full employment we must go further. This 2015 Action Plan for Jobs takes up that challenge.
It places a strong emphasis on mobilising employers to play their part in the employment
investment and growth in domestic sectors of the economy to help in addressing the employment challenge,
A Preliminary Review, April 2014 16 improvement in skills provision through the launch of SOLAS, Education and Training Boards, Momentum programmes, employment incentive schemes such as Jobsplus and doubling
new staff in EI and IDA Ireland overseas offices in high growth and emerging markets;
These reforms have impacted on job creation capacity and potential in the economy, but we have more to do to achieve the target of 100,000 jobs by 2016.
In relation to Enterprise Agency-supported employment, total permanent employment in EI and IDA Ireland assisted companies in the industrial and services sectors increased by 5 per cent to over 350,000 in 2014.
This continues the trend in positive employment growth since 2011. Foreign Direct Investment was buoyant in 2014
with IDA Ireland securing 197 investments and reporting a net increase in employment in client firms of 7, 131.
and employment creation and startups were also strong. Similarly agri-food exports are estimated to have reached a new record of nearly €11 billion.
Enterprise Ireland's strategy is about maximising job creation in Irish businesses. It provides a vision for Irish enterprise for 2020 and details the strategic objectives,
Employment growth within Enterprise Ireland supported companies will be fuelled by an increase in global demand for Irish products and services.
Enterprise Ireland will lead a drive to increase the exports of client companies leading to significant employment growth in those companies.
Two of the key aspects of the IDA Ireland Horizon 2020 strategy were to drive company transformation to ensure higher levels of job retention and to focus particularly on the growth in employment intensive services,
and generating employment benefits. Secondly, for many of the actions it is difficult to establish a linear causal relationship between specific policies
or suite of actions and isolating the impact of economic externalities on employment in Ireland.
and helps ensure that actions effectively contribute to the over-arching objective of increased employment.
The goal of the Action Plan for Jobs is increased employment, as mea the Inte imp thro Logi and obje cons asured by the impact of th 1. Incr 2. Stim 3. Imp 4. Incr 5. Incr
Benchmark metrics are supplemented with key data from the annual surveys of the Enterprise Agencies, such as employment, expenditure, sales,
Domestic Economy (retail, construction, tourism, agri-food) Current job creation performance in the domestic economy is improving,
with the CSO data indicating that some of the largest employment increases have been in the domestic economy 5 Framework for the Evaluation of Enterprise Supports (2011), Forfás 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 21 areas.
Apprenticeship registrations in construction related trades have increased by 75 per cent between June 2013 and June 2014.
The Government is committed to expanding apprenticeship into new areas and this will be the focus of the work of the Apprenticeship Council over the coming years.
There are continuing demands and need for extra provision in a number of areas that will be the focus of engagement between the HEA and higher education institutes.
Meet employer demand for employment permits in the ICT sector, which is expected to reach 2, 000;
and New calls for apprenticeships and traineeships in 2015. Current Performance: Activation of the Unemployed At the macro level, Ireland's performance in terms of activation is strong
There was an annual increase in employment of 1. 5 per cent or 27,700 in the year to Q3 2014, bringing total employment to 1, 916,900.
At the same time, over 100,000 people have left the Live Register to take up employment. Unemployment is down from a crisis peak of 15.1 per cent to 10.6 per cent at the end of 2014 and, critically,
the pace of the reduction is accelerating. The Government's initiatives under Pathways to Work to enable jobseekers get back to work are proving successful.
We need to continue to ensure that work incentives are adequate across the economy if we are to support unemployed jobseekers,
and in particular those jobseekers who are unemployed long term, to compete for and take up employment opportunities. Social welfare income supports,
if poorly designed can make it difficult for unemployed people to return to work. The introduction of the Jobsplus scheme, the Springboard initiative, the implementation of the Momentum programme and the roll out of schemes such as Gateway
and Tús together with the reform of the Community Employment programme indicate the Government's determination to address the challenge of long-term unemployment.
The implementation of Jobpath during 2015 will result in a further significant increase in the level of resources made available to help support long-term unemployed jobseekers return to work.
Notwithstanding progress youth unemployment is still a significant cause for concern. Accordingly the Government will during 2015 continue the roll out of the Youth Guarantee for Ireland including targeting places and new initiatives.
Selected Targets for 2015: 100,000 extra at work by 2016 (including 40,000 jobs in 2015; 2. 1 million at work in 2018;
Implement Pathways to Work 2015 and constituent metrics; and Begin a new Jobsplus strand for young people under the Youth Guarantee.
much of Ireland's progress during this period arose from changes in the composition of employment in Ireland during the recession (for example a collapse in the numbers employed in the labour intensive construction sector), rather than broad based productivity growth.
both in terms of the level of investment and the human resources engaged in RD&I activity. Business expenditure on RD&I and the number of indigenous and overseas firms that are RD&I active has continued to increase since 2011.
which captures the economic success of innovation in employment in knowledgeintensive activities, the contribution of medium and high-tech product exports to the trade balance, exports of knowledge-intensive services, sales due to innovation activities and license and patent revenues from selling technologies abroad.
Some of the areas of improvement include in the issuing of work permits. Similarly, the waiting time for a hearing at the Labour Court has reduced
and the waiting time for a hearing at the Employment Appeals tribunal has fallen. However our performance is weak in relation to dealing with construction permits
getting electricity, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency, getting credit, and registering property. Where the potential for improved competition exists in any given market,
and to make Ireland a great place to live and work. Current Performance: Cost of Doing Business Ireland's cost base has improved across a range of metrics over the last number of years making Irish firms more competitive internationally
Particular focus is required to address domestically influenced cost factors in the labour market in the energy sector and in the property market as rapid increases in prices have the potential to produce adverse knock-on consequences in terms of prices and wage expectations across the entire economy.
and the high corporate debt burden will act as a drag on growth and employment. This is why Government has placed a significant emphasis on enhancing the availability of bank
Monitoring Progress and Success All of this builds on the reform and work of previous Plans.
and training system and employers to deliver on skills needed to build the New Economy.
but must continue to demonstrate responsiveness to the changing needs of society and employers. This Disruptive Reform is being rolled out in the context of significant reform in the education
and strong engagement between the education and training system and employers. This will include a cohesive approach on competitive
and collaborative funding initiatives across the range of programme areas from Springboard to Momentum, Apprenticeships, Skillnets and research fellowships both at national and local level.
and building on current levels of FDI job creation over the remainder of the decade. Today the competition for talent is global,
and make sure that work always pays. A National Talent Drive that comprehensively addresses each of these aspects of talent supply will reinforce Ireland's positive reputation globally for the quality of its people
and the development of strong partnerships, between the education and training system and employers at a national and regional level.
the development of apprenticeships in new economic sectors and driving delivery of the ICT Action Plan, including increasing domestic provision of high-level ICT skills.
It also includes employer focused programmes for unemployed under Springboard/ICT Conversion Programmes and Momentum through systematic, continuous engagement and collaboration between education and training institutions and employers at national and regional level,
Strong co-operation between employers and the education and training system has proved to be crucial in developing responses to skills needs,
Clear arrangements to connect employers, enterprise development agencies and the education and training system are crucial to strengthening engagement in areas such as:
employer input to the development of education and training provision, creating sufficient and sustainable work placement opportunities and the development of apprenticeships in new economic sectors.
The aim of the plan is to ensure that employers will be able to fully source their ICT skills needs in Ireland, through a mixture of domestic supply and skilled inward migration (both from within the EU and through the reformed employment permit system.
and include a work placement component. There are strong employment rates for graduates of these programmes (67 per cent of graduates in employment within 6 months),
but also relatively high withdrawal rates. The Higher education Authority is examining issues related to retention on ICT courses,
and participating in adopt a school programmes as proposed in the ICT Skills Action Plan and by highlighting female role models in industry to increase female participation on ICT courses and employment in the sector.
The Action Plan commits the Government to meet employer demand for employment permits in the ICT sector,
Although the labour market continues to be characterised with an excess supply, and unemployment remains unacceptably high,
improvements are evident in labour market indicators and employer demand continues to grow, with over 100,000 jobs advertised on the Governments Jobsireland
. ie website in 2014 and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs has reported some shortages in some niche skill areas.
The objectives for 2015 are to: Deliver the skills needed to underpin the New Economy built on Enterprise Innovation and Technology
which we seek to create; Strengthen the employability of learners and enhancing engagement between the education
and training system and employers to deliver high quality skills; Attract and retaining world class talent,
including through efficient management of work permits systems and initiatives to attract high skilled individuals from around the world;
Provide a great place to live and work; Develop new Apprenticeships in response to proposals from key sectors of the economy.
It is estimated that the economy has a long run average requirement of between 3, 500 and 4, 000 annual registrations in the existing apprenticeship trades, both construction and non-construction.
The Government is committed also to expanding apprenticeship into new areas and this will be the focus of the work of the Apprenticeship Council over the coming years;
Develop and implement the new Foreign languages in Education Strategy; Publish regional labour market profiles to better reconcile available skills with employers'needs;
and 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 31 Publish the Further Education and Training Services Plan. 2015 Actions A Step Change in employer engagement to build skills for the New Economy. 1 Review the National Skills Strategy
and publish a new Strategy in 2015. DES) 2 Implement Cycle 2 of the Strategic Dialogue process for 2015 under the higher education performance framework 2014-2016, including monitoring of performance metrics for skills including those identified by the EGFSN
and achieve a step change in enterprise engagement in higher education institutions. HEA) 3 Through strengthened collaboration between Government, the education system and industry and as part of the goal of making Ireland the most attractive location in the world for ICT skills and ability, implement the key actions from the ICT
HEA, HEIS, Employers) 4 Incentivise 1, 250 additional places in 2015 on Level 8 ICT programmes.
HEIS, HEA, Employers) 7 Enhance industry input to programme content, provision of work placements and promotion of ICT programmes as part of the implementation of Skillnets ICT Conversion Programmes.
HEA) 32 10 Maintain the level of awards under the IRC Employment Based Programme to provide opportunities for MSC
by employers to progress graduates to employment. HEA, HEIS, Employers) 12 Increase the pool of researchers strongly positioned to take up employment in industry in Ireland.
SFI) 13 Roll out the 2015 call for proposals for Springboard courses, with a particular focus on priority areas identified by EGFSN including ICT;
HEIS, HEA, Employers) 14 Publish an integrated 2015 Further Education and Training (FET) Services Plan that includes provision to meet the FET skills needs identified in various published EGFSN reports and sectoral studies.
SOLAS) 15 Target provision to meet regional employer needs, identified through regional labour market profiles and through local and regional employer engagement.
SOLAS, ETBS, HEIS) 16 Develop new Apprenticeships in response to proposals from key sectors of the economy.
DES, SOLAS, HEA, Apprenticeship Council, Employers and Education Bodies) 17 Implement the provision of places under the second iteration of Momentum.
DES) 18 Consider the provision for a 3rd iteration of Momentum with strong employer input that will provide additional education and training places for the unemployed.
DES, SOLAS) 19 Promote and support development of the Skills to Work brand to increase awareness of reskilling options for jobseekers.
DES, DSP, D/Taoiseach, SOLAS, HEA, Skillnets) 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 33 20 Develop
DES) 21 Publish the national employer survey of higher and further education outcomes. DES, HEA, SOLAS, QQI) 22 Progress curricular change in the context of the phasing in of the Junior Cycle reform with the new Specification for English being implemented from September 2014.
DES) 23 Roll out the a new account management approach to employers under Pathways to Work:
and sales capability within Intreo targeted at employers Allocate a nominated account manager to large employers
and implement the‘employer charter'(DSP) 24 Review the potential contribution of the Excellence through People programme to developing the competencies and retention of employment in Irish based companies.
D/Justice and Equality, INIS) 26 Continue to ensure employers are able to secure Employment Permits for the critical skills they need,
DJEI) 27 Initiate a Trusted Partner Registration Scheme for Employment Permits open to all eligible employers.
D/Finance) 34 30 Establish the Low pay Commission (LPC), to undertake analysis and make a recommendation on the appropriate level of the national minimum wage.
DJEI, Low pay Commission) 31 Conduct a study on the prevalence of zero hour contracts (ZHC) and low hour contracts (contracts of 8 hours or less per week (LHC)) among Irish employers and their impact on employees,
and make policy recommendations to Government. DJEI) 32 Continue to roll out the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP.
The aim of the Action Plan for Jobs is to support enterprise growth and job creation in every region of the country.
The pace of progress in the regions and especially those with the highest unemployment levels-needs to be accelerated through targeted supports for enterprise and job creation.
and orient existing funds to target initiatives that enable regions to achieve their full employment potential.
Údarás na Gaeltachta and other public bodies active in each region to promote enterprise growth and job creation.
In this context, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland will also work to explore how the Community Enterprise Centre network can best be enhanced to support regional job creation.
and will also contribute to job creation in those regions. To promote economic and community development
and targets for delivery by a range of public bodies to support enterprise growth and job creation in the regions and will complement the statutory Plans to be developed as part of Local government reform.
setting out targets to support entrepreneurship, enterprise growth and job creation. LEOS, EI, LAS) 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 37 39 Create a minimum of 500 new jobs
setting out targets to support entrepreneurship, enterprise growth and job creation. Únag) 41 Establish three new Regional Assemblies.
IDA) 45 Continue to work to attract Foreign Direct Investment in areas outside of Dublin and Cork.
Únag) 47 ETBS and higher education institutions to target provision to meet local and regional employer needs,
identified through regional labour market profiles and through local and regional employer engagement. SOLAS, ETBS HEIS) 38 Support for Local and Rural Development 48 Each Local authority will make an integrated Plan, for the promotion of economic development and local and community development in its area.
DECLG, Local authorities, LCDCS) 49 Implement the new Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 following agreement of the Programme with the European commission.
Energy is an area offering substantial economic and job creation growth opportunities for Ireland. Ireland has substantial clean energy resources, a very strong ICT sector,
and with a healthy ecosystem of consultants and experts. Ireland has early mover advantage, having been involved in developing the international standards;
as it focuses on how energy policy can facilitate increased investment, innovation, job creation and economic development without acting as a barrier to these important factors for the economic and social recoveries prioritised by the Government.
This work involves extensive industry and academia stakeholder consultation in order to determine a future research strategy for Ireland.
The Group comprises a dedicated team of senior executives and officials from all research funding Government departments and Agencies.
IDA, EI, SFI and SEAI to work with indigenous and international enterprises across the energy value chain to develop their activities in Ireland.
Recruitment of leading energy researchers to Irish HEIS, using, e g.,, SFI's Research Professorship scheme;
This end-to-end approach to research strategy will provide the strongest potential for the research sector to contribute to national energy policy priorities and to job creation in the wider economy through the development of innovative commercial products, processes and solutions.
work with public sector organisations with an annual energy spend of €500, 000 or more, to go to the market to identify solutions for the delivery of energy reduction services.
and generate additional employment opportunities. The SBCI's new forms of credit will give SMES a greater capacity and, indeed incentive,
and it is essential, from both a growth and employment perspective, that the development of The irish SME sector is supported in a similar manner.
For example, the model that is used by both Kfw (the German promotion bank) and ICO (the Spanish State Investment Bank) to support the financing of their respective SME sectors.
This innovative approach to funding SMES will enhance the long-term potential of the sector to drive economic growth and job creation in Ireland.
SBCI) 68 Work to align the revised Credit Guarantee Scheme with the operations of the SBCI.
The key service offered is a web portal that enables companies to identify experts, research centres and technology-licensing opportunities to benefit their business.
The ambition for manufacturing as set in 2014 is to achieve potential for employment growth of 40,000
The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, from consultations with companies, has identified a demand for manufacturing skilled trades for sectors such as food, medical devices, engineering and Pharma/Biopharma,
and for apprenticeships/traineeships in formal operative level traineeships, manufacturing technicians, manufacturing machine operators, practical engineering apprentice (progression up to level 8), polymer technologists,
develop new Apprenticeships in response to proposals from key sectors of the economy. DES, SOLAS, HEA, Apprenticeship Council, Employers and Education Bodies) 82 Enterprise Ireland will support a total of 115 firms across all levels and activities, through its Leanstart, Leanplus and Leantransform Programmes.
EI) 83 Enterprise Ireland will launch a Manufacturing Capital Equipment Grant providing up to €250, 000 by way of grant to eligible SMES for the purchase of capital equipment (subject to
that will boost productivity and lead to increased employment. EI) 84 Enterprise Ireland and the IDA will develop a strategy to develop Ireland's aviation related business sectors.
However in the face of strong European and international competition in this area the Task force has identified a number of new actions that will harness Big data for employment growth.
intensifying FDI employment growth. The increased funding for staff and support for enterprises through EI is focused on the provision of additional on-the-ground support by Enterprise Ireland in overseas markets including China, South korea,
the opportunity for job creation in Ireland. It also includes working with first time exporters and providing a range of programmes to exporters to develop the capabilities of Irish enterprises to grow exports through programmes aimed at both existing exporters and potential exporters.
and commitment of additional staff in 2014, the focus has been on development of enhanced customer service (training, website, protocols with State bodies), seamless continuity of services (project supports/job creation, training
and running the focus will continue to be on setting ambitious business targets, strengthened customer service and improved communications and promotion of LEO supports,
and 60 per cent expect they will need to recruit within 12 months of these companies the average expectation was need a to recruit 1. 5 staff.
Action Plan for Jobs 2013 contained a Disruptive Reform aimed at making it more attractive for businesses to hire additional employees from the Live Register:
Prior to this there were already a suite of measures that supported employers to employ or provide access to the labour market for those on the Live Register,
but take-up of some schemes was low. Consequently, the Government decided to replace the PRSI exemption and Revenue Job Assist schemes with a simplified initiative.
easily understood and attractive scheme that encourages employers to recruit from the cohort of the long term unemployed.
a payment of €7, 500 over two years to an employer for each person recruited who has been unemployed for more than 12 but less than 24 months,
and €10, 000 over two years to an employer for each person recruited who has been unemployed for more than 24 months.
Since its launch in the summer of 2013, over 2, 500 employers have availed of the opportunity to give over 3,
400 unemployed people on the Live Register a chance to get back into employment. The Pathways to Work 2015 strategy
which complements the APJ process, places a particular emphasis on measures to help long-term and young unemployed people find a route back into employment.
Its measures include an enhanced version of Jobsplus specifically for young unemployed people. 2015 Actions Jobsplus 101 As part of Pathways to Work,
a new Jobsplus strand for young people will be available in 2015 under the Youth Guarantee.
and recognise that they play a crucial role in economic and employment growth. The onset of the international financial crisis and the systemic problems within our national banking system, in conjunction with cultural payment issues have conspired collectively to create an extremely challenging environment for SMES in relation to accessing finance.
and recognised in terms of the monitoring of the Group's overall work and final output. 4. 1 Effective Implementation to Maximise Benefits to SMES Given the progress that has been achieved to date,
and data and as such part of the work of the SME State Bodies group will involve engaging with commercial entities around the issue of improving the provision of data on SME lending.
A feature of the work of the SME State Bodies Group to date has been the commitment to evaluate
Part of the work of the Group in 2015 will be to support the roll out of reconfigured product offerings such as the revised Credit Guarantee Scheme and the simplified operation of the Microenterprise Loan Fund through Microfinance Ireland (MFI.
and Work with other agencies and representative bodies to develop tailored audiencefocused information material. 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 65 It is evident that effective communications need to be integrated from the outset into the various policy
In Budget 2015, the Minister for Finance outlined a number of key changes to the Employment
The relief is aimed at encouraging those who previously were in PAYE employment to start their own business.
& Venture capital Scheme (2013 2018) to stimulate job creation and support the 68 funding requirements of young innovative Irish companies.
ISIF) 118 Enterprise Ireland to work with the European Investment Fund to progress the establishment of a European Angel Fund in Ireland.
EI) 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 69 119 The Department of Finance to work with the relevant stakeholders in raising awareness of the EII Scheme and promoting it as vehicle for channelling investment to grow enterprises and support employment.
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This means that 36 per cent of those who were on the live register at the beginning of the twelve month period have left it to go into employment.
More than 50,000 people who were unemployed long-term at the start of 2012 have found work and unemployment has fallen from a crisis peak of over 15 per cent to 10.6 per cent now.
In previous recoveries economic growth was described as jobless, not because employment did not grow but because it took a long time for this growth in employment to translate into a commensurate reduction in the numbers of people on the Live Register.
A key objective of this Government is to ensure that the increase in employment generated by the actions under this Action Plan does translate into a reduction in the number of people dependent on jobseeker payments
and in particular those who are in long-term receipt of jobseeker payments. Towards this end the Government has,
under Pathways to Work, developed a programme of activities to ensure that as many jobs as possible of the jobs created under this Action Plan are filled by people taken from the Live Register.
Pathways to Work sets out seventy milestones to deliver on this objective. These measures include:
Working more closely with employers; Increasing the capacity of the Public Employment service; Evaluating the effectiveness of labour market programmes;
Targeting more places and opportunities for young unemployed people and those who are unemployed long term; Promoting employment supports;
and Ensuring the effectiveness of referral from Intreo to further education and training. Progress against the delivery of the Pathways to Work objectives will be reported separately, with updates on progress of the above items included in the reports on the Action Plan for Jobs.
Pathways to Work can be found www. welfare. ie. The objectives for 2015 are to:
Roll out the Employment and Youth Activation Charter: Employers who sign this Charter commit that at least 50 per cent of candidates considered for interview will be taken from the Live Register;
Begin the new account management approach to employers within the Department of Social Protection. This will mean employers who interact with the Department to find recruits for their businesses will have dedicated a accounts manager to assist them;
Roll out Jobpath, through which third-party providers with proven track records will be hired to provide additional employment services focused on the long-term unemployed. 74 Continue to rollout the Youth Guarantee initiatives to support young jobseekers;
and Introduce a Back to Work Family Dividend which will help lone parent and long-term jobseeker families to return to work. 2015 Actions Increasing Activation of the Unemployed 127 Continue the development
and reform of the State's public employment services to help ensure that the number of people on the Live Register is reduced as the economy recovers
and that the labour market responds flexibly and efficiently to employment growth. DSP) 128 Implement the actions agreed under the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for Persons with Disabilities.
D/Justice and Equality) 129 Participate actively in the Department of Social Protection's Work Placement Programme and the National Internship Scheme.
D/Defence) 130 Promote and assist, as appropriate, the progression of relevant actions in National Youth Strategy which support youth employment
and youth employability initiatives, including skills development and experiential learning opportunities for young people and the provision of valuable volunteer opportunities.
DCYA) 131 Support the voluntary youth work sector in accessing the proposed new Youth Programme
and the Youth Entrepreneurship Fund by facilitating links between local youth services and the Local Enterprise Offices/Microfinance Ireland.
DCYA) 132 Progress work on implementing the EU Recommendation on Recognition of Non-formal and Informal Learning in consultation with relevant Government departments and other stakeholders.
DCYA) 133 Subject to securing the required resources, develop and roll out a Youth Employability Programme in 2015 to support youth work initiatives that increase young peoples'employability,
enhance their acquisition of transversal skills and aid their preparedness and progression to employment. DCYA) 134 Continue to promote mobility and learning opportunities in the youth work sector and the take-up of EU funding mechanisms available such as the new Erasmus+Programme.
DCYA) 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 75 135 Bring forward new measures in the field of childcare supports
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provide the payroll to the workers they employ which in turn circulates in shops and businesses in every community,
which continued economic growth and sustainable employment creation across the country will be built. Enterprise Ireland supported companies created more than 19
the net increase in employment was 7, 131, one of the highest net levels of job creation in a decade.
The employment growth in these companies is linked directly to their ability to grow sales and exports.
Whether it is via our work to grow and embed foreign direct investment here or our actions to strengthen
and works to strengthen cooperation and coordination across all Government departments and State agencies involved in the promotion and development of trade, tourism,
investment and education. 78 It reviews Local Market Plans which are produced annually for each of our 27 priority markets.
These Embassies and Consulates will provide a platform for further promotion of Irish exports, investment, tourism and education.
investment and people in order to deliver on Government's ambition to have 2. 1 million people in employment in 2018
IDA) 149 Roll out the delivery of Winning Abroad (see earlier section 3. 4).(IDA) 150 Work to win another 160 new FDI investment projects in 2015.
EI) 158 Work to increase SME awareness of public procurement opportunities. EI) 159 Support Irish companies seeking to participate in procurement overseas through engagements for SMES with International Financial institutions.
and training agencies to assist in identifying procurement opportunities that are suited best to facilitating social clauses aimed at reducing long term unemployment
HRB) 173 Work with IFB and other agencies to explore the capacity to expand the industry.
Increase fulltime employment equivalents in the film and audiovisual sector by 1, 000 jobs by supporting The irish Film Board to fund at least 15-20 Irish feature films and developing
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and deepen work to support entrepreneurship in schools. DES) 179 Examine the Entrepreneurship in the Schools activity in each LEO area
DES, HEA) 188 Work with the Department of Social Protection to promote the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance,
with a particular emphasis on regions that have struggled to achieve employment growth. Enterprise Ireland will also publish a report each year on the startup environment across the LEOS network, identifying areas of excellence and areas for improvement and innovation.
DJEI) 194 Support a further cohort of new food entrepreneurs under Food Works 3 and promote market outlets for food start-up companies.
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while recent competitiveness improvements leave Ireland well placed to take advantage of any upturn in global markets we remain vulnerable on a number of fronts.
sensible steps across the public sector that we can continually improve the operating environment for hundreds of thousands of employers across the country, making business easier, cutting costs,
and enhancing the environment for job creation. 96 2015 Actions Take steps to reduce the red tape for over half a million business interactions in 2015 219 Roll out the new National Post Code system
DCENR) 220 Develop/procure a new employer vacancy and job-matching system. DSP) New e-Services to Make Business Easier 221 Incorporate provision in the forthcoming Planning Bill to allow planning authorities
DAFM) 228 Further encourage e-submissions for the Annual Employment Survey (AES) and Annual Business Survey of Economic Impact (ABSEI) over the upcoming survey cycle.
HSA) 231 Extend the number of HSA health and safety e-learning modules and increase user numbers, providing more cost effective solutions to the training of employees, managers and students.
DTTAS, NTA) Legislative Change to Cut Red tape 233 Existing maternity, adoption, parental and carer's leave legislation will be consolidated into the Family Leave Bill.
This will enable both employers and employees to access just one piece of legislation and also ensure as far as possible a consistent approach to such leaves.
D/Justice and Equality) 234 Revoke outdated Dangerous Substances legislation and replace it with a streamlined,
lower cost and enterprise friendly system for the licensing of petroleum storage and dispensing facilities.
and agriculture sectors, facilitating the planned employment growth in these sectors by reducing the administrative cost of compliance and making a real impact, on reducing accidents, increasing compliance but also cost savings.
The Cabinet Committee (s) will be supported by the relevant Senior Officials Group and the APJ Monitoring Committee in this work.
NCC) 8. 3 Infrastructure Investment to Underpin Employment Growth The NCC assessment is that our infrastructure still lags other countries
and reducing the expenditure pressures of the Live Register as increasing numbers of people move into employment.
in support of social and economic infrastructure that will support direct employment through construction related activity,
and indirect employment through competitiveness-enhancing projects, as well as making Ireland a better place to live
Pathways to Work and other strategies, will be important to support sustainable economic and social progress.
and Work Such investment in capital projects can have an immediate employment impact by way of jobs in the construction sector and related activity,
which to live and work. For example, in 2015 we will: Invest €530 million in capital funding in 2015
and provides associated work training facilities, the completion of the building of the new prison in Cork,
the development and refurbishment of seven courthouses and a range of smaller works on other courthouses,
and audiovisual industry and job creation and maintenance in the Gaeltacht. 8. 4 Enhancing Firm-level Productivity In the long run,
tackling barriers to investment in high growth sectors is vital to support real and sustainable productivity growth leading to increased employment. 102 The ramping up of world trade as we emerge from the global economic crisis presents the potential for Ireland
Increasingly, good CSR practices are distinguishing the best companies from their competitors by the manner in which they engage with their customers, suppliers, employees and local communities.
Customers and prospective employees are more conscious than ever of the ethical record of companies. 40 per cent of job seekers read a company's sustainability report,
and graduates increasingly cite a company's CSR policy as a factor in determining their employer of choice.
For companies seeking to attract skilled and knowledgeable workers CSR is no longer an optional add-on,
Labour costs are rising again following a number of years decline and that future increases should be aligned with productivity growth;
stimulating the development of a market for Energy Services Companies (ESCOS) and supporting sustainable employment in construction and professional services.
recreational and other social infrastructure to ensure Ireland is a great place to live and work.
D/Justice and Equality) 264 With the Film Board, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is continuing to work to create a more competitive environment to grow the film,
more work remains to be done. Therefore given the continuing and central importance of economic regulation to job creation and national competitiveness, implementation actions at sectoral level and review actions at central level
are reflected in the 2015 Action Plan on Jobs. 2015 Actions 265 Continue the implementation of actions outlined in the Government Policy Statement on Economic Regulation in the Energy, Communications and Broadcasting sectors.
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Stimulating the Domestic Economy The preceding sections outlined the measures the Government will take in 2015 as part of our continuing export-led approach to employment generation.
The sector accounts for around 170,000 jobs or 9 per cent of total employment, and makes a particularly significant contribution to employment in rural areas.
Food and Beverage exports increased to a record value of €10 billion in 2013 representing an increase of 9 per cent on the previous year and a 40 per cent increase since 2009.
job creation and environmental sustainability 116 over the next decade. The final report of Committee of the 2025 Agri-Food Strategy will be presented to Government in July 2015.
EI) 297 Work with the industry to implement a new beef genomic scheme. DAFM) 298 Roll out a schedule of food related Ministerial Trade
Teagasc, EI) 302 Develop strategic alliances with Irish food processing companies to target science based innovations for job creation.
DAFM) 310 Develop Options Plus programme to facilitate information sharing to farm families in relation to off-farm employment,
and provided employment for about 16,300 people (full time equivalent). Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth (HOOW)- Ireland's Integrated Marine Plan (IMP),
by 2025, the headline targets of €5 billion in overseas visitor revenue, total employment of 250,000 in the tourism sector,
DAHG, NCIS, philanthropic supporter and technical experts) 321 Develop further heritage tourism initiatives, including a programme of trailway development in National parks and Nature Reserves, in partnership with key stakeholders.
DAHG, UCD, DCU) 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 121 10.4 Retail The Wholesale and Retail sector accounts for the largest share of employment in The irish economy, with approximately 270,000
In spite of a general improvement in the number of people at work nationally over the last 18 months, employment increases in the Retail sector have been sluggish.
and address issues which can help support quality employment in the retail sector. Retail Consultation Forum) 124 Olivia Use th Based travel about booke hande the wr it as th the cov we fou busine What s hire ha as othe
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It is also an essential part of the Government's effort to return the economy to full employment in 2018.
We have said that we are determined to help all those on the Live Register find meaningful and rewarding work,
including the many construction workers who lost their jobs with the sector's collapse. Restoring construction to normal levels of activity can also help ensure that economic recovery reaches
Construction 2020 contains a detailed programme of work including 75 time-bound actions, across a range of issues including:
This reflects an annual increase of 19.1 per cent in residential building, a 13.4 per cent rise in civil engineering and a 2. 5per cent increase in nonresidential building work.
Building on work already underway, we will produce the first annual National Housing Report, identifying any supply/demand mismatches, in Q2.
The Housing Supply Coordination Task force for Dublin will continue its work in support of increased supply in the Capital.
we will work with the construction industry to ensure that employers are aware of incentives to recruit people who are unemployed long-term
competitive and sustainable construction sector, capable of contributing to economic growth and job creation, and equipped to meet the future infrastructure needs of the country,
DAHG, Únag, NGI, An Post) In Budget 2015, it was announced that the public service recruitment moratorium was being lifted.
A targeted programme of recruitment into the Civil service has commenced which will address service needs and a shortfall in key skills.
In addition to this, extra funding was provided in Budget 2015 to allow for the recruitment of 1, 700 new teachers and special needs assistants for the classroom,
and deliver employment opportunities through recruitment of recruits and cadets. 2015 Actions Other Areas 340 Progress the intake and training of 100 new Garda recruits.
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The strategies pursued by Government, including Action Plan for Jobs, Pathways to Work, successive Budgets,
and elevated levels of debt and unemployment at home, all increase the importance of developing new sources of economic growth.
which the design sector represents for growth and further employment, the Government is supporting ID2015 as an outcome of the Global Irish Economic Forum at the end of 2013.
and Leave a legacy to build on these aims over the longer term. Through APJ 2015 we will broaden out initiatives in design to encompass the broader enterprise base.
and markets through facilitating design teams to work with businesses across a broad range of sectors from multinationals to SMES on action-based projects that demonstrate the value and impact of design in business growth,
and SMES leading to job creation. This will include an initiative to incorporate Design and Enterprise into science, technology,
and employment creation benefits of good design practice. 2015 Actions Growing Sales Through Leadership in Design 343 Deliver a national programme of events presenting Irish design across the island of Ireland,
D/Finance, DJEI, D/Taoiseach, IDA, EI) 351 Ensure effective and coordinated marketing and promotion of the strategy in key overseas markets.
and job creation. 2015 Actions Internet of things 352 The Task force on Big data will review the opportunities for Ireland arising from the Internet of things
and/or at a minimum to adopt technologies in the workplace; and encouraging new technology intensive and software start-ups that are focused on addressing the needs of the manufacturing sector.
The opportunity will also be taken to explore the potential for the development of new employment opportunities in the Green Economy at regional level as part of the development of Regional Enterprise Strategies.
which was established as part of Delivering Our Green Potential, the Government's Policy Statement on Growth and Employment in the Green Economy,
will also continue to explore areas of opportunity to support job creation in the Green Economy. 2015 Actions 357 Carry out Cleantech Trade missions
DJEI, EI, OGP) 362 In developing Regional Enterprise Strategies, explore the potential for the development of new employment opportunities in the Green Economy at regional level.
DJEI) 363 Through the Consultative Committee on Jobs in the Green Economy, continue to identify new opportunities to support job creation in the Green Economy.
funding for the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) to expand RD&I activity through the recruitment of at least two Principle Investigators over the coming years and implement the NIBRT Board approved business plan
& Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre) and PMTC (Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre) and this (combined with new recruitment) should position them well to win competitive grants from SFI,
EI) 367 Review attitudes to flexible working arrangements to promote greater participation by fathers in family leaves.
DCENR) 370 Undertake a qualitative research project to follow-up on key issues identified in the national employer survey.
DES, HEA, SOLAS, QQI) 371 Review and disseminate of findings of 2014 Joint HEA/SOLAS employer survey.
and evaluate the impact of the Springboard initiative to further strengthen the contribution of the programme to supporting job creation
and retention, reducing unemployment and meeting the skills needs of emerging industries. HEA) 373 The Post Graduate programme of Professional Practice programme, currently in pilot phase, will be evaluated.
and generate employment in locally traded sectors Objective Baseline (2011) Current Performance (2014) 2015 Targets Relevant APJ Sections To support 100,000 additional jobs by 2016 Decrease in numbers
81,400 Accommodation & food 117,600 IDA firms decrease in employment of 16,248 from 2007-2010.
Job churn 6. 2%.EI firms decrease in employment of 23,983 from 2007-2010. Job churn of 8. 6%80,000 extra at work from Q1 2012 when APJ was launched to Q3 2014, with employment at:
Retail: 273,200 Construction: 110,900 Agri-food: 109,500 Accommodation & Food 135,800 IDA firms increase in employment of 22,265 from 2011-2014.
Job churn 4. 2%.EI firms increase in employment of 16,420 2011-2014. Job churn 5. 1%Target of an additional 100,000 at work by 2016 and 250,000 additional at work by 2020.
Achieve full employment in 2018, with 2. 1m at work. Creation of 13,000 gross new jobs in indigenous firms in 2015 Creation of 14,000 gross new jobs in FDI firms in 2015 Chapters 2-10 2015
ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 141 1. Increasing sales and exports Objective Baseline Current Performance 2015 Targets Relevant APJ Sections 1. 1 Increase
APJ Sections 2. 1 Increase local economy employment Q1 2012 Retail: 264,800 Construction: 104,300 Agri-food:
Increase tourism Employment to 250,000 by 2025.6. 2m overseas tourists in 2011 c. 7. 3m visitors in 2014.
Accommodation employment increased by 23,000 from 2011 to Q3 2014 Foreign earnings of €3. 6bn in 2014 144 2. 4 Increase Agri-food Exports to €12bn by 2020
in Construction Sector Construction employment in Q1 2012 was 104 300. Six years of declining output in the sector Employment 110,900 GDP from building and construction sector increased 7. 3%in the past year Output increase 10.1%for year to Q3 2014 60,000
sq m of office space under construction in main cities Q3 2014. Continued implementation of the Construction 2020 Strategy Implementation of the Social Housing Strategy 2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 145 3. Improving Skills Provision Objective Baseline
employer demand for employment permits in the ICT sector, which is expected to reach 2, 000 Investing in 1,
Shortages of business sales executives 250-750 pa), sales account executives (200-500 pa) and in customer service occupations (200-500 pa) 3. 6 Promote upskilling
. 8 Apprenticeship new registrations 1, 307 in 2011.656 in non-construction trades. 1, 687 est. in 2013.917 in non-construction trades higher level maths by 2020.
calls for apprenticeships and traineeships in 2015.2015 ACTION PLAN FOR JOBS 147 4. Increasing activation of the unemployed Objective Baseline (2011) Current Performance 2015 Targets Relevant
APJ Sections 4. 1 Increase in numbers leaving the Live Register to take up employment per year No net decreases 100
000 net left the Live Register to Q3 2014 100,000 extra at work by 2016 2. 1m at work in 2018 Implement Pathways to Work 2015 and constituent metrics
and longterm unemployment rates Long term unemployment rate Q1 2012 8. 9%and 60%of the unemployed. Youth unemployment was 39%in April 2011.
Long term unemployment rate Q3 2014 7. 9%and 56.7%of the unemployed. Youth unemployment was 23.2%in Q3 2014.148 5. Increasing Levels of Entrepreneurship Objective Baseline (2011) Current Performance 2015 Targets Relevant APJ Sections 5. 1
EU ranking of adult population engaged in entrepreneurial activity 1 in 13.69 (7. 3%)in 2011 1 in 11 in 2013 Increase the number of startups by 25%Increase the survival
rate in the first five years by 25%Improve the capacity of startups to grow to scale by 25%Provide business development and financial supports to 185 High potential and early stage Startups.
Relevant APJ Sections 6. 1 Increase in value added per employee EI Firms-3%decline in 2011+2. 5%increase in 2013 Support 945 participants
8. 2 Reduce barriers to startup a business 9th (2008) 22nd 8. 3 Employment Appeals Tribunal waiting time 76 weeks in 2011 63 weeks
in 2014 8. 4 Labour Court hearing waiting time 13 weeks in 2011 10 weeks in 2014 8. 5 Work permits average processing time 32
Q3 2014=102 5 Hourly Labour Cost Average Hourly Total Labour Costs Q2 2011-Q2 2014 as follows Euro
DPER Department of Public Expenditure and Reform DSP Department of Social Protection D/Taoiseach Department of Taoiseach DTTAS Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport EGFSN Expert
EII Employment and Investment Incentive scheme EMFF European Maritime and Fisheries Fund EPA Environmental Protection Agency EPC Energy Performance Contracting ESRI Economic and
Social Research Institute ETB Education and Training Board ESCOS Energy Services Companies FCF Food Competitiveness Fund FW Food Works FDI Foreign
Research Board HPSU High Potential Start-ups HSE Health Service Executive IBEC Irish Business and Employers'confederation ICMR Irish centre for Manufacturing Research ICT
Pathways to Work QNHS Quarter National Household Survey QQI Quality and Qualifications Ireland RDP Rural Development Programme RD&I Research, development and innovation RFT
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