Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

38. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his Department’s role in the Global Irish Economic Forum; his views that the forum is realising its full potential in terms of supporting employment growth in the economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6099/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Global Irish Economic Forum is organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with inputs from other Government Departments including my own. The most recent Forum – the third since 2009 – was held in October 2013. The themes discussed at the 2013 Forum were closely aligned with the Action Plan for Jobs and the event was structured to capture practical ideas that could be taken forward through the Action Plan process. Working Groups in the Forum addressed issues such as driving innovative manufacturing, developing a supportive culture for entrepreneurship, tackling youth unemployment, as well as looking at the potential of sectors such as financial services, technology, tourism and Agri-food.

I, along with senior officials from my Department participated on a various Working Groups at the Forum. A number of ideas which emerged from the 2013 Forum were included in the 2014 and 2015 Action Plans for Jobs. These include:

- Designating 2015 as the Year of Irish Design; the 2015 Action Plan for Jobs includes a series of actions to grow sales through leadership in design.

- Focusing on driving a step change in Manufacturing; this was a key Disruptive Reform in the 2014 Action Plan and, in 2015, the IDA will launch a new €1.5 million programme to support transformation and productivity improvement in the sector.

- Building on the theme of Entrepreneurship, a National Policy Statement on Entrepreneurship was published last year as part of the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs process.

Other actions included in the Action Plans which emerged from the Global Irish Economic Forum include the appointment of “Origin Green” ambassadors in the Food sector and a focus on the opportunities from Smart Ageing. These are all significant initiatives to support employment growth in the economy and demonstrate the synergies between the Global Irish Economic Forum and the Action Plan for Jobs process.