Written answers

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Enterprise Policy

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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186. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the degree to which his Department has identified barriers to the recovery of the economy in the wake of Covid-19; his proposals to deal with such issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44180/21]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The pandemic has affected us all profoundly and caused a huge shock across the economy and society. Many trends and shifts that have been emerging for some time have been accelerated. Trends such as the growing digital economy; decarbonising the economy; labour market composition changes; and global developments such as Brexit, geo-political change, trade protectionism, international taxation among others. Some of the most noticeable changes include the shift to online retail and to electronic payments, and to greater levels of remote working. Each of these trends on their own has the potential to reshape businesses and lifestyles in significant ways creating new challenges and also opportunities.

The Economic Recovery Plan, which was published in June, sets out the Government’s approach to recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic and to ensure that we are prepared to realise the opportunities that these evolving trends will present. The most immediate challenge in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic is the scale of the unemployment challenge. This will require a determined and relentless focus on helping people back to work, accelerating the provision of training, reskilling and upskilling to assist people to transition to new jobs in growing sectors of the economy. The Economic Recovery Plan sets out our overall ambition of exceeding pre-crisis employment levels by reaching 2.5 million people in work by the end of 2024. Crucially these jobs will be more productive, innovative, resilient and in new areas of opportunity, aligned with the Government’s green and digital ambitions.

Central to the employment challenge is getting people back to work as quickly as possible. This will be achieved intense activation and skills development including by increasing the caseload of the Public Employment Service by 100,000 per annum; providing a new Work Placement Experience Programme, to reach 10,000 participants by the end of 2022; accelerating the rollout of 50,000 education and training places; and providing for a SOLAS Recovery Skills Response Programme to provide a range of additional education and training interventions including the SOLAS Green Skills Action programme.

The pandemic may also have exacerbated Ireland’s two-tiered economy, increasing the gap between domestic and export orientated firms.  Our Economic Recovery Plan outlines a two-pronged recovery approach; a focus on domestic SMEs, whilst leveraging and reinforcing the enormous strength and resilience of the Foreign Direct Investment sector in Ireland and its indispensable contribution to communities across the country.

The Plan outlines measures to improve SME productivity, exporting activity, internationalisation and diversification, digitalisation, and business dynamism, as well as greening enterprise, in order to boost the resilience, of Irish SMEs to current and future shocks and disruptions. The SME and Entrepreneurship Growth Plan, published earlier this year, gives Government a clear set of recommendations, directly from the business community, on how to build the best business and regulatory environment possible for SMEs and entrepreneurs to come back stronger from COVID and become more resilient over the longer-term. The implementation of Enterprise Ireland’s strategic framework will further reinforce these efforts and strengthen Irish enterprise to respond to market shocks. Through the delivery of IDA Ireland’s strategy, and complementary trade initiatives, Ireland will enhance its value proposition for FDI and aim to win 800 total investments to aid job creation of 50,000 across the country.

The new Housing for All strategy, which will target of 33,000 homes every year, will not only drive considerable direct and indirect employment opportunities but will also address supply constraints in terms of housing which continues to be a challenge.  Our ambitious retrofitting goals, supported by a Loan guarantee for Low-Cost Residential Retrofit Loan Scheme, will further drive employment in the construction sector. 

The ambitious programmes outlined in the Plan will be underpinned by substantial capital investment under the revised National Development Plan, as well as €915 million expected in a first tranche of funding under the European Recovery and Resilience Facility. The EU’s Brexit Adjustment Reserve will also be an important vehicle to support recovery by helping to counter the adverse economic and social consequences of Brexit.

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