Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 April 2008
274 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures he propose to take to address the issue of competitiveness in the economy, thereby protecting jobs and inward investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15632/08]
View answerThere are a number of key policies which the Government is implementing to maintain and enhance our competitiveness and to invest for the future. The Government has made a major commitment, through the substantial investment set out in the Strategy for Science, Technology & Innovation (SSTI) and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013, to making the transition to a knowledge-economy by funding world-class research in Ireland. Through the NDP and SSTI we are committed to providing €8.2 billion to ensure Ireland remains a key location for leading edge research and development, and the quality jobs it can deliver. Ireland is now a global competitor for research and Innovation investment from multinational companies and leading research institutions.
The National Development Plan provides over €2.8 billion for upskilling the workforce. The focus of Government has also been on training up those in employment and giving particular attention to those with lowest educational/training attainments in that grouping. FÁS and Skillnets are particularly active in this regard. The public budget for training those in employment has increased more than nine fold in the last four years. This year €510 million is being provided through my Department for all forms of training, including the very significant financial commitment of the Government to the training of apprentices. FÁS and Skillnets have been directed to increase their focus on the provision of management training and those in low skilled employment.
In our endeavour to up-skill workers we have also been working cooperatively with representative employer and trades union interests. Here also, significant public funds have been provided through FÁS to ICTU and associated unions to allow then to train and install a corps of leaders whose job will centre on identifying the education, training and personal development needs of members. Productivity and innovation are key to the competitiveness of firms. The Government's major policy initiatives, as set out in the NDP and Towards 2016, will enhance the economy's productivity potential. Active measures are being taken by our Development Agencies to improve the capabilities of indigenous firms in meeting global competition by greater investment in innovation, productivity improvements and other value enhancing activities.
Developing an innovation intensive economy is essential to enable Ireland to succeed in the face of growing global competition. Developing successful entrepreneurs and world-class enterprises are important ingredients in any economy based on innovation. Consequently, innovation is at the core of all Government Policy. Enterprise Ireland has set ambitious targets to help Irish industry make that transformation. An Innovation Policy Statement will be published shortly, highlighting progress made on a broad range of innovation policy areas, both technological and non-technological, and emphasising how innovative policies will be advanced in the coming years. The Statement complements and provides a wider context for the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation launched in 2006.
The services sector plays a major role in the Irish economy and is assuming even greater importance in international trade. Driving and supporting internationally traded services growth, both in emerging and existing sectors and through the internationalisation of locally traded services are core objectives. In that regard we will continue to map the way forward for services innovation through the Forfás Services Strategy Group and I look forward to the Group building on these good foundations. Enterprise Ireland aims to grow Irish presence in a number of niche services sectors, positioning services as a major export growth platform. While there has been some recent slippage in our relative competitiveness rankings, Ireland still remains amongst the most competitive countries in the world. Creating the best framework conditions to enable innovation to flourish which in turn leads to increased productivity and competitiveness will continue to guide our overall policy approach to tackling the competitiveness challenges ahead.
