Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Calleary knows, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, commissioned a major report on the strategy for the manufacturing sector, which was published in April 2013. The strategy identifies an additional 20,000 jobs that can be created in manufacturing by 2016 and proposes key actions across a range of areas, including access to new funding, management training and support, cost reduction, the adoption of technology, and the implementation of a national step change initiative. The key issues arising from this strategy are being pursued through the Action Plan for Jobs process. In addition to developing the manufacturing strategy, the Government has also initiated research on the specific skills needs of the manufacturing sector up to 2020, and this work was completed in 2013 by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs. That report identifies what needs to be done regarding training and skills development for the sector. A wide range of recommendations are made and work is already under way to address some of the recommendations in that report.

Under action 49 of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014, Enterprise Ireland is tasked with specifically identifying and working with a group of mid-sized manufacturing firms - initially 12 - to secure their commitment to achieve significant growth over the next five years. Management development, benchmarking and strategic reviews and lean business programmes will form the basis of this suite of supports. This action has already been delivered. Furthermore, a targeted call for innovation vouchers for the manufacturing sector also took place.

Further commitments specifically relating to manufacturing sector and focusing on competitiveness, access to finance and supply chain opportunities will be continued in the Action Plan for Jobs 2015, which will be launched early in the new year.

As the Deputy knows, the manufacturing base is very diverse and includes companies in the food, construction materials, medical devices and engineering sectors. Many of the supports required or sought by Irish-owned manufacturing companies are relevant for companies across the indigenous enterprise base. To assist both manufacturing and internationally traded service companies in achieving growth, Enterprise Ireland provides the supports for internationalisation, access to finance, capability and management development, competitiveness, innovation and so on.

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