Mr. John Moran:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to present New Generation Economic Development, NGED. The outcome of the presentation should be a much better understanding of a locally based development strategy, which will, with whatever amendments, receive the committee's endorsement and recommendation. In 2007 our national debt stood at €482 billion, 20% of GDP. In December 2013, our national debt stood at €709 billion, 120% of GDP. This information must be tempered in part with aspects of the bank bailout. The overall trend is that, despite the series of austerity measures, debt reduction has not happened. If this trend is allowed continue, the Irish taxpayer faces an ongoing burden and future economic prospects will be hampered.

The only practical option is growth, growth and more growth. There is a recognition that existing development agencies and policy have so far failed to have a sufficient impact on these crucial issues. The proposed strategy is a bottom-up, localised development, embracing a public-private partnership model. The premise is based on identifying local needs and delivering solutions in conjunction with group-based development. The key deployment is rural, rather than city, locations. The target audience is the micro sector, both sustaining existing enterprise and creating a supportive environment for start-ups. NGED offers a simple, transparent management structure and allows for early deployment. This is about building a local development platform with a strong emphasis on marketing. Local inputs and modifications can be included to meet specific area requirements.

The initial development phase will embrace local retail, micro-business and tourism. The 360 degree development vision is about an integrated development network at local, county and regional level. In the interim, we propose a first phase that can be deployed and achieved now. Crucially, given a degree of support, NGED programmes can be rolled out on a pilot basis in a matter of months. There are positive economic indicators in terms of start-ups. It is intended that NGED will capitalise on and enhance this trend. It is hoped that this template deserves positive consideration.

The retail sector seems to be the current topic of discussion. Our argument is that we should consider group development - namely, retailers coming together as a group - which will have an impact with regard to what the previous speaker was talking about. The traditional retail market is dominated to a large extent by the migration to online shopping, the growing position of the multiples, ease of parking, convenience, better ambience, the issue of upward-only rent reviews, and an unsympathetic rates structure. Our objective is to create a robust and innovative retail environment in town centres, adopt a new shopping experience and image for modern shoppers, identify those critical local development pinch points, and form a dedicated working structure to implement an agreed series of proactive development measures.

In our template, we propose group-based local structures - that is, groups of local retailers coming together. Every individual retailer faces exactly the same problem. Such a collective would provide scale and impact. As part of the build-up to this, we have recognised that we need to consider a strategy that includes objectives, a structure and generic training. Because retail, like every other market, has changed, we need to retrain to meet modern demands. The objectives, primary and secondary and long- and short-term, must be determined by the local business development groups. We cannot go to a town and impose what we think it needs. The feedback must come from the ground. The limited company partnership co-operative must have local agreement. There is also a case for including a nominal shareholding for external management input. The strategy will be influenced by the objective needs analysis. Management will agree a timeline and key objectives, which become part of a business plan and project management.

Training becomes constant.

Online e-commerce is a growing opportunity and cannot be ignored. It is acknowledged that small retail operators may not have the scale or resources to effectively impact on this marketplace. The shopping proposal is where a group of local retailers consider a group-based communal e-commerce site, share costs and share the benefits not only to drive Internet business but also to drive footfall into the store. The Americans who tend to be leaders in this space, now see where they are actually killing conventional retailers. We are trying to focus an online e-commerce site to drive traffic into the stores as well as avail of retail opportunities. The online aspect should be part of an overall promotional development strategy. Shopping would be managed externally. In other words, we have outsourced the shopping programme to a management company. It is not only about retail sales but to revive town centres as a real shopping destination. I travel between Tullamore, Portlaoise, Longford, Mullingar, Ballina and Castlebar. We have good county towns but the retail sector which has gone out of them is effectively dead. We need to put an emphasis on reviving town centres.

The shopping template becomes the online commercial retail hub where group discounts and offers can be part of the order of the day. There are opportunities to bring back some additional retail activity. The introduction of pop-up shops and new variations of hybrid retail units. Eat 17 is a combination of a food hall, retail sector, music centre and a cafe. Apparently that concept appeals to the younger shopper. It has an online promotion which entices them into the shop where they have a burger and it is a place to meet. That is part of the revival process that we are recommending.

The pop-up shop will have two variants. The uShop for single operations and the uShop 2 which is group based and can take on a few variations. It can be a foodhall type of activity which has a central dining area and there may be ten or 12 smaller units supplying services. That is the kind of cheap innovation that is needed. We are not talking about high tech but customer-led projects and marketing, promotion and perception. They are key to driving this new image.

Vacant and rundown shops need to be part of the solution as it is disheartening that all one sees on a main street is plywood. I am aware of local initiatives to paint those vacant shops and, where possible, to display information notices. This does not involve getting into huge costs but we are improving the image. Under the local initiative all the shops are painted in nice colours all of which adds to the image. In embarking on this process we need to get feedback from the retailers and the people on the ground. We are building a structure that meets the needs. We could get involved with institutes of technology. In fact, Athlone and GMIT Castlebar have already helped us. We can build on the basis of need.

New generation shopping cannot remain in isolation but has got to be part of a wider 360 degree development. I recall in our town a time where the Connacht final day was bonanza day which was usually on a Sunday. Some discussion is taking place on whether Connacht final day could be on a Saturday and build a weekend event around it? All of these things can be done today or tomorrow and one does not have to wait for outside help. One needs to tie in with local groups with a view to capitalising where possible. We are not talking about getting involved in major costs. This is very simple idea.

The operational phase may get technical. Essentially, it will look to the objectives of these analyses. This includes a survey and feedback sessions from existing traditional retail sectors. It is important to have on board. It is important to have those on board. The outcome should provide for a needs analysis. The strategy becomes the means and timeline to achieve the goals and objectives. The structure on which we are embarking is a commercial structure, not a club structure. The typical project plan will include the budget, the cost element, the benefits, benchmarks and criteria for measuring it. It is no good having a plan unless it is measured. There must be a project breakdown of the structure, the schedule and the risk analysis. There must be project team roles, reporting processes and financial functions. The outcome should be clarity of purpose and clarity of vision. The participants and stakeholders must have access to all related information. The model is a public private partnership where all operational information is available. It is no good keeping secrets. If the plan is to be implemented, everybody must be fully aware of what is happening.

The management structure is two-tier. There is the executive-operational side and the supervisory side which, hopefully, will include a public private partnership with local authorities as they gain or lose on the success of the retail sector. The outcome should be an inviting and attractive environment to entice people back into town centre shopping. The business perspective should adopt a more consumer, customer-centred and responsible relationship which has been lacking.

We could ask what happened in the retail sector in 2008. Shopping habits changed and there was an economic implosion. Therefore, we have to go back and restore the credibility we had to respond to customer needs. I think we lost that to some extent.

In summary, retail is changing and will continue to do so. The danger points include the traditional retail sector. The shopping template seeks to whip this sector with the synergy and resources to successfully embrace these challenges. The individual shop retains its traditional ethos but now has access to online e-commerce, digital marketing and group-based business savings. In addition, the group-based communal collegiate structure provides a very positive business environment. However, we are losing that because of apathy, which is our biggest enemy. We have to restore that confidence in the environment.

The wider 360 degree development embraces issues such as local tourism. It is all based on group support which we have had in the past. Clearly, the success of the co-operatives all started with local need. For example, the credit unions responded to a local need. It is clear from driving around the country that the need now is to restore an economic model for every locality. The essence of any business is that it needs to sell a product and if it does not, the business does not happen. Part of our structure is that we are embracing small businesses, micro-businesses, local tourism and retail, and in the middle of that structure we have a county marketing company. I would like to claim that the county marketing company was my idea or our idea but in essence it is copied off the Alibaba model that the Chinese used very successfully for many years, as a gateway for their own producers. What we have done is that we have borrowed, adjusted and got a model whereby we should go into every county. Therefore if a shoe shop wants to sell product online or services online we have one common point to do it. That provides scale to the smaller producer and gives him a leg-up in terms of getting into the market place. We need to achieve more business and growth in business. However, we cannot achieve growth under present circumstances. I am not criticising the State bodies in place. They were formed in completely different economic circumstances.

We are trying to work on developing a relationship with them. If we can do so, we will deliver a better synergy and impact to the business sector on a group basis.

I could talk about this for hours, but the committee has a report. That is a template, though, and is not complete. It is deliberately structured in that way because it can be modified to suit requirements in different areas. There might be a different set of requirements in Monaghan than there is in Mayo, for example. This template can be implemented quickly. We are not discussing major costs or structures. Rather, we are discussing entering a community, engaging with it on its needs and, once we know those, setting about delivering the necessary solutions. The report outlines some of our target areas - energy, the retail sector, local tourism and a crucial project called trade bridge. We have people in Ireland who are producing a product with export potential, but who will be defeated by the shared costs and logistics involved in accessing an export market. In recent years, I have spoken with the Irish diaspora in the UK, for example, the members of which have been broadly supportive of creating a bridge into the UK market. In this way, the person selling widgets is allowed to expand that operation. Ireland does not have the growth potential to do that.

We are trying to support local retailers, harness green energy's potential locally and promote local tourism, retailers and small businesses that are on a knife's edge but that, with a little support, could be brought back into the fold. In this way, we could drive potential.