Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)

As it is my first time here since the recess, I wish to pay tribute to Mr. Martin Groves and Ms Bridget Doody, who have left us. They are two fantastic public servants who have served this House and the Houses of the Oireachtas with distinction. I wish them every success in their next chapter. I thank them for their professionalism and dedication. I also wish the new Clerk of the Seanad every success.

It is my pleasure to be here this afternoon to speak on the national social enterprise policy, Trading for Impact, which was launched last year. Last week, I had the pleasure of being in the Dáil to speak on social enterprise policy, and I listened carefully to the contributions of Members. It is my intention to do the same here today. It is by engagement and listening to colleagues that we can ensure we respond in a proactive way to the challenges Members raise to fully support the social enterprises within all of our communities and beyond.

As Members know, social enterprise at its core is about achieving a social or environmental impact, rather than just maximising profits. They are part of the social economy and make a valuable contribution to social and economic progress through the creation of jobs and the delivery of a broad range of services in areas such as home care, childcare, retail, hospitality, environmental services and social housing. Very often, as Members know, they support people in disadvantaged areas, such as the unemployed, people with disabilities and the Traveller community, and address issues such as food poverty or supporting the circular economy. They make a hugely positive contribution in all of our communities.

In July of 2017, the Government assigned responsibility for social enterprise to the Department of Rural and Community Development. This gave the opportunity for a policy development which complemented the Department's overarching policy remit as well as responding to research calling for a cohesive framework to support social enterprise that could realise its full potential. That first national policy was drafted in consultation with the sector in 2019.

In a European context, the then Government signed the Luxembourg Declaration which commits to increased recognition and promoting a balanced developmental model to support the economic, social and environmental aspects of the social economy's growth. It aims to ensure a favourable ecosystem that leads to the expansion of the sector and champions social innovation as a driver of modernisation within the Single Market.

In July of last year, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys launched a second policy for Trading for Impact to cultivate and sustain a strong and impactful social enterprise sector in Ireland that enriches the social, environmental and economic well-being of our communities, with five key objects of the policy: building awareness of social enterprises, growing and sustaining them, supporting the green transition, increasing national and international engagement and impacting measurement. Senator Lynch, from her engagement with the European People's Party, has done an extraordinary job for us as Members of the Oireachtas, and we recognise the importance of that international engagement.

Officials in my Department have extensively engaged with stakeholders in developing this new policy. It is about a partnership approach within the sector and with the sector to ensure that it reflects learnings from the first iteration of the policy and the development since that time. That engagement has included bilateral meetings with key stakeholders, including Government Departments, representative bodies and networks as well as a number of regional stakeholders. We have received 43 submissions after a public consultation process. I thank all involved in the public consultation process, which is very important. In addition, a number of reports and reviews were undertaken, including the OECD report of the first national social enterprise policy and the first national baseline data collection exercise of social enterprise in Ireland. The findings are key to understanding how important the sector is in Ireland and to move forward and progress by recognising what works, what does not work and, more importantly, what we can learn. What we have discovered is that there are 4,000 social enterprises operating across the country in all regions. In 2021, these brought in a total income of €2.3 billion. Through these enterprises 84,000 people are employed, totalling 3.7% of the workforce, with 75,000 volunteers participating in the sector and more than 30,000 voluntary board members. A total of 60% of social enterprises employ people through active labour market programmes. Approximately 15% of the social enterprises report they operate internationally.

I am aware, as Members are, of the commitment in the programme for Government for an annual SEED allocation of funding, and I am engaging with colleagues on this matter to ensure that we best support and meet the challenge of the sector.

Since the launch of the first national social enterprise policy in 2019, the social enterprise unit in my Department has spent over €16 million on supporting social enterprises in Ireland. The Dormant Accounts Fund, as we all know, has a particular focus on supporting members of the Travelling community, migrants, former offenders and other marginal groups, improving the quality of life and delivery of service for disadvantaged communities. A sum of €14.9 million in dormant accounts funding has been used to provide capital support schemes, capacity building, training and mentoring programmes and awareness, raising support and growing and sustaining social enterprises, but it is actually about people and giving them opportunities. A total of €1.3 million in current expenditure has been directed at supporting the implementation of policy, including an annual national conference, network events, research, awareness training and capacity building.

This year my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I announced that the Dormant Accounts Fund growing social enterprise scheme is worth €4 million, and again this scheme is about providing funding for 125 social enterprises for building works, repairs and refurbishments and the purchase of new machinery, vehicles and equipment to allow them to grow and expand. I very much welcome the establishment of the Trading for Impact stakeholder engagement group, which has been active. It is consulting with my officials to design a successor to the dormant accounts funding programme to commit to local social enterprises next year. It will ensure that the right supports are put in place to meet the challenges on the ground. Other programmes delivered by my Department also provide supports, including the community service programme, with 430 community-based organisations providing local, social, economic and environmental services through a social enterprise model.

The SICAP programme has supported 1,603 social enterprises by providing training for disadvantaged groups, as well as the provision of advice, business supports and small grants and, as Members will know, LEADER supports under its economic development and job creation team. The recently announced new solutions social innovation fund has at its core its aim to enhance the social innovation ecosystem in Ireland, including social economy organisations. Co-funded through the European Social Fund+ for the period 2021 to 2027, its aim is to reduce the risk of poverty and social exclusion. It will see the establishment of a social innovation hub to support innovative projects through targeted supports like mentoring, capacity building, access to information and financial support programmes. The European Social Fund+ for the period 2021 to 2027 will also see the Achieve Together social innovation coaching and mentoring programme enhance community services programme-supported organisations by increasing their capacity to apply for and manage supports from other sources at local, national and European level. Over the coming years, it is expected that mentors and coaches will be provided to about half of the CSP-supported organisations.

As Members will know, the national philanthropy policy also comes under our remit. The aim behind it is to create an enabling environment where social innovations, including social enterprises, can avail of opportunities from philanthropic and corporate social responsibility quarters.

The Trading for Impact stakeholder engagement group has commenced its work. It is made up of representatives from relevant Departments, networks and representative bodies. It will meet regularly and help to ensure that the lead bodies listed in the policy are held accountable for the delivery of their actions, although overall responsibility for the delivery of the policy will rest with my Department. The Trading for Impact stakeholder engagement group will be the overseer. The group has already met for the first time. The minutes of its meetings will be available when approved, and the group will continue to be open and transparent.

My officials will continue to work with colleagues across government to ensure improved access to funding and supports for social enterprises, including Enterprise Ireland. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment will sit on the Trading for Action policy implementation group in response to its responsibilities under actions 15 and 16 of the policy. It is about improving access to schemes, such as the Enterprise Ireland high-potential start-up team, for eligible early-stage social enterprises that are considered to have innovative products, services or technologies. It will also ensure a consistency of approach across the local enterprise offices, LEOs, which do tremendous work across the country.

I take this opportunity to highlight the active labour market programmes, such as the community employment programme, the rural social scheme and Tús. Some 60% of social enterprises have paid staff employed through these programmes.

Since 2021, my Department has sponsored the "Partnering with a Social Enterprise" category at the Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Awards, one of which is for "Partnering with a Social Enterprise". This recognises the value of private businesses partnering with social enterprises.

As the sector grows and matures, the needs and challenges of social enterprises that arise from their legal form will be monitored to ensure there is a clear and favourable legal basis for the co-operative model in Ireland. This will improve the options available for establishing social enterprises.

Trading for Impact commits to improving opportunities for social enterprises to compete for public contracts. As an initial step, my officials are actively engaging with the Office of Government Procurement and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, on its new guidelines to ensure that all public bodies are aware of, and actively include, social clauses in their procurement, where possible. We will also support social enterprises to bid for and win contracts, and thereby increase their income and become more sustainable. Under the policy, work will also be undertaken to ensure that more corporate buyers are aware of the positive impact they can have on their communities by doing business with social enterprises.

My Department has commissioned a consortium, made up of Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland, the Irish Social Enterprise Network, the Local Development Company Network and The Wheel, to deliver a number of actions under the policy on its behalf, including: holding two national social enterprise conferences, the second of which will be held in Ballinasloe in November; a national social enterprise awards event; the series of regional networking events that took place earlier this year; and a pilot awareness raising programme for transition year students. My Department has also commissioned a pilot programme to investigate the challenges and merits of using a voluntary quality mark, which I believe will make it easier for social enterprises to secure business supports, public procurement contracts, philanthropic funding, grants and more by providing a trusted mark of approval for individuals and businesses that are thinking about doing business with them.

As stated in the Dáil, social enterprises do not wait for the conditions to be perfect. They act quietly and practically to create jobs, unlock talent, build local resilience and reimagine what inclusive and sustainable growth can look like. Trading for Impact represents a strong commitment by the Government to social enterprises and recognises the value and potential they bring to making our communities and environment stronger and more sustainable. As we look to the future, we support the power of local action to shape national outcomes. Through supporting the delivery of the actions contained in Trading for Impact, we will strongly support the development of the sector in the years to come. The best is yet to come. We are in the process of creating conditions where social enterprises can do what they do best, which is to serve, include and empower. I look forward to hearing the contributions of Members.