Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 November 2014
99. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide an update on the formulation of policy in relation to enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation matters since the dissolution of Forfás and the subsuming of its role in to the strategic policy division in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44527/14]
View answerThe Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act was brought into force earlier in the year. During the debate on the legislation, I emphasised the need to ensure that an independent policy function would remain in place within the Department and that this would challenge it on a range of issues. I am afraid I have not seen a great deal of evidence of much independent thought on the part of the relevant unit within the Department. What arrangements have been put in place to maintain the independent policy function?
In order to put Deputy Calleary's mind at ease, I wish to state that following the commencement of the Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act 2014 on 1 August 2014, Forfás's policy functions have been integrated within the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The policy research and advisory functions of Forfás have transferred in totality to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and form the core of its strategic policy division. The former staff of Forfás, together with a number of existing staff from the Department, form the core of this newly-created division. A very strong unit has been developed as a result. The objective of integrating Forfás with the Department's existing resources is to further enhance the formulation and development of national enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation policy. The integration is ensuring that the best available resources of the Department and Forfás will be collectively harnessed and focused on evaluating, designing and executing an ambitious enterprise and jobs strategies, at this pivotal time in economic and enterprise development.
The key elements of the role of the strategic policy division include the areas of enterprise policy, competitiveness, the enterprise aspects of tax policy, education, skills and labour market analysis and economic infrastructure. It also provides research support in the Department in respect of the areas of trade, innovation and climate change, together with economic and data analysis generally. The survey activity previously carried out by Forfás, which provides a key element of the policy research capability, is now being undertaken by the strategic policy division. The research budgets associated with the former Forfás policy activities continue to be available within the Department. When the legislation was debated in the House, the Deputy was concerned that the research budget would disappear. However, that has not proven to be the case and the relevant moneys are being spent on good research.
The strategic policy division is co-ordinating the development of the Action Plan for Jobs 2015 within the Department and is working with other Departments towards achieving the Government’s objective of the creation of 100,000 jobs by 2016. The division is also leading or contributing to a number of specific policy reviews and evaluations under way in the Department including enterprise policy to 2025, in growth areas of opportunity such as intellectual property management, big data and smart ageing, and to the reviews of our strategy for science, technology and innovation to 2020 and also the review of the Department's statement of strategy for the next three years. The Deputy will be aware that the science strategy document was for the period up to 2013 and it is important that we get a new strategy up and running. We are currently working on a new document in this regard.
The Deputy will be aware that the science strategy ran its course in 2013. The strategy document is important and it is important that we get up and running in this regard. We are currently doing a lot of work on that.
The Forfás website, which is full of interesting reports, directs one to the Department's website. The news releases from August on the Department's website refer to the expansion of Storyful, Danone concluding an expansion programme, the Taoiseach launching a centre, the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, urging new impetus, MDS opening international offices, and Minister of State Deputy Gerald Nash making a statement. Minister of State Deputy Damien English has not quite made it. All that is missing from the Department's website are the cheerleaders and the pompoms. There is no sense of independent thinking or challenge, which was the hallmark of Forfás and the kinds of documents it produced. For instance, Forfás highlighted a 12% increase in legal fees in its last report on business costs and pushed the Government to do something about the Legal Services Regulation Bill. Nothing was done in this regard. I fear that, in the context of the cheerleading on the website, independent thinking on policy is lost.
The Minister of State, Deputy English, mentioned the enterprise strategy document published at the end of September. It is very good but its recommendations were immediately ignored by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, in the budget, despite the opportunities. There should be a little more independence and a little more challenge in the tradition of Forfás as opposed to what is currently on the Department's website.
I will have to review the website to make sure I am on it. I am very disappointed. There is a need for some research on that.
I disagree with the Deputy. I found it useful over recent months to have the Forfás personnel as part of our team in the Department. On a weekly basis, one now has a chance to debate policy and work on solutions. I am highly involved with the staff on the skills agenda and making sure we will not be in a position in a year or two in which we will have many jobs available but no currently unemployed person from an Irish background and who is living here to fill them. The Forfás staff are part of our new policy development work and they are working very closely with us.
The other key area is the science strategy. It is important. The prioritisation agenda, involving the targeting of research and development and innovation moneys over recent years, is very important and has delivered quite a lot for this country. We must ensure the strategy develops over the coming four or five years. I disagree with the Deputy. It is important that the Forfás staff are involved. I note the Deputy's concern that there is no longer independent advice. I can assure him from dealing with the staff around the management table that they are very independent and have very strong views. They have a major role in formulating the Department's plans for budget 2015. In time, the Deputy will see that I am telling him the truth.
I welcome the fact that the personnel are challenging policy within the Department because it is a Department that needs to be challenged consistently, especially internally. However, we are not seeing that. Will we see a National Competitiveness Council report for 2015 in the same way we saw one for 2014, despite the fact that it is being ignored? Will we see the kinds of reports it produced on legal services? The Minister of State said there will be an ICT review. The Department is succumbing to cheerleading. One could never call the action plan for jobs review independent; it has never been. It is the biggest cheerleader or pompom of them all. It is basically a pat on the back for everybody, with a rating of 95%. The Department always leaves room to demonstrate independence but there is none really. It is essential that we see the independent thought published and the policy challenge available in public as opposed to within the four walls of the Department.
As the Deputy knows, the committee presents a great opportunity to discuss policy. There is no problem engaging regularly at its meetings on policy initiatives.
The Deputy touched on the action plan for jobs. Forfás was driving the action plan for jobs from the start. Mr. Shanahan, who has now moved to the IDA, was a key driver of the plan when he was in Forfás. Nothing has changed and the commentary will not change. What Forfás was doing in the past was gathering evidence to make policy decisions. The key people are still doing that. It is recognised that the Department - the Deputy was there himself - experienced a reduction in the number of personnel in the area of policy formulation and research. We now have a very strong unit that brings together the staff of Forfás with the staff already in the Department. From what I can see, I am happy with our daily policy decisions. We have proper information with which to make decisions. They are evidence based and not based on the whim of any Minister. The three of us here want to do the right thing.
The Deputy criticised the action plan for jobs. If we had not lost the whole enterprise agenda during the boom years, we would not need an action plan for jobs. The fact of the matter is that we had lost the basis of enterprise-driven economics in this country. The action plan for jobs comprises 300 or 400 actions across all Departments and it makes it very clear that it is the role of every Department to contribute to the jobs agenda. We must now refocus and in some cases go back to basics, but if the previous Government had done its job correctly we would not have to go back to basics.
