Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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300. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of the review of Enterprise 2025 in view of Brexit and potential policy changes under the new US Administration; and when the review will be completed and published. [53683/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Enterprise 2025 sets a roadmap for long-term enterprise development. It is an ambitious strategy that aims to deliver jobs that are sustainable over the longer period and to achieve a top 3 competitiveness ranking.  Through our policy actions and company supports we aim to achieve a step-change in the performance of our enterprises, to ensure that our business environment remains conducive to enterprise investment and growth and to differentiate Ireland's offering on the global stage. We aim to have 2.180 million in employment by 2020, and to ensure that all regions of Ireland benefit from economic growth.  

Earlier this year, a  Review of Enterprise 2025 was initiated to ensure that our policy framework and priorities are robust in the uncertain environment. This review is undertaken in the context of global changes that are likely to have an impact on Ireland's enterprise development, and specifically Brexit and potential policy changes under the new US administration. In addition, the advances in digital technologies continue apace, opening up new market opportunities, spawning new global business models and impacting on every sector of the economy. 

A senior-level Principal Officer forum was set up that includes representatives from a number of key economic government departments and the development agencies. Analysis of performance to date shows good performance against the 30 metrics set out in Enterprise 2025 and solid progress on implementation of 56 strategic actions. A more comprehensive review of enterprise performance over the past decade was also completed. Informed by this evidence base, my officials engaged with industry and other stakeholders to debate the extent to which our priorities remain robust or need a greater emphasis in today's environment.

It is important to highlight that action is already being taken by Government, my Department and its agencies to respond to the challenges arising from Brexit in particular.

I and my agencies remain focused very clearly on the stretch targets set out in Enterprise 2025, which include reducing unemployment in each region to within one percent of the State average by 2020; achieving export growth in Irish-owned enterprises of 6-8 percent per annum; an increase in the number of startups by 25 percent per annum – startups with better survival rates – this would see us with 15,700 enterprise births a year; a 30 percent increase in the numbers of exporters of scale; an additional 1,080 inward investment projects; a 60 percent increase in EI enterprises spending more than €1m on R&D and winning €3.6bn in R&D related FDI; and, a 25 percent uplift in direct economic expenditures by agency supported companies.

The Review is at final draft stages and the aim is to publish the report in early 2018.  This review will be complemented by the Action Plan for Jobs 2018.