Written Answers. - Culliton Committee Report.
Mervyn Taylor
Ceist:
51
Mr. Taylor
asked the
Minister for Industry and Commerce
if he will make a statement outlining the progress, if any, which has been made in the implementation of the Culliton Report; if he will give details of the Government's proposals in this regard for the next 12 month period; and if he will make a statement on the matter generally.
Jim Higgins
Ceist:
62
Mr. J. Higgins
asked the
Minister for Industry and Commerce
if he will outline the cost of the Culliton Report on industrial policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ruairí Quinn
Ceist:
102
Mr. Quinn
asked the
Minister for Industry and Commerce
if he will make a statement outlining all measures taken to date to implement the Culliton Report in so far as his Department and the agencies under his control are concerned.
Ruairí Quinn
Ceist:
107
Mr. Quinn
asked the
Minister for Industry and Commerce
if, in respect of the recommendations of the Culliton Committee, he will outline, for each recommendation concerning his Department, the action, if any, which he has already taken or proposes to take, the changes involved and the cost of such action; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Question Nos. 51, 62, 102 and 107 together.
I would refer the Deputies to the statement which I issued on 8 September, 1992, copies of which have been placed in the Dáil Library.
The Report of the Industrial Policy Review Group was submitted to me in January of this year, just six months after I had instituted the Group under the chairmanship of Mr. Jim Culliton.
It recommended a procedure to assist implementation of its recommendations, which the Government accepted immediately, in January last. That procedure provided for the establishment of a Task Force to follow-up on the implementation of the Culliton Report. The Task Force, chaired by Dr. P.J. Moriarty, included leading people from business and the Secretaries of relevant Government Departments.
The Moriarty Tasks Force has now submitted two reports to me on implementation of the Culliton Group's recommendations. The reports cover a wide range of Government policies that come within the remit of several Ministers and Departments.
The first report of the Moriarty Task Force contained some 48 separate recommendations all of which have been agreed in whole or in part by the Government. The Ministers responsible have announced or will announce details of actions to implement the recommendations in each area.
In my own area of responsibility the Culliton recommendations to achieve the reform of the role, functions and organisation of the Department of Industry and Commerce have been accepted. This involves the following:
—The role of the Department will become predominantly one of policy determination for industrial development and for the supervision of the implementation of that policy. This will include the promotion of the importance of a supportive business-related and regulatory environment for industry and business;
—Specific objectives and targets for the boards and management of the industrial promotion agencies will be established and published;
—The staff resources of the Department will be strengthened to assist in the enhanced policy role of the Department;
—An Advisory Board on industrial and commercial policy will be established to provide the Minister and management of the Department with expert advice and support additional to what is available at present;
—The review of industrial performance, undertaken and published by the Department at three-yearly intervals at present, will be widened to cover a review of industrial policy and its implementation covering the achievement, or otherwise, of the objectives and targets set for the industrial development agencies;
—Explicit budgets for the attraction of internationally mobile projects will be established with the objective of getting better value for money for a given level of projects/employment creation;
—The shift of emphasis from grants to repayable or participating forms of finance for indigenous industry will be continued to meet gaps in the financial markets and in the supply of seed capital;
—The grant-aid budget (and other supports) will be used to help develop industrial clusters and segments of national competitive advantage;
—More effective EC restrictions on State aids for industry, particularly in the more developed member states, will be pressed and the replacement of national schemes for export credit insurance by a common EC-wide scheme will be sought;
—A commercial services-oriented structure will be developed for both the Companies Registration Office and the Patents Office;
—Science and Technology programmes will be developed as a more central instrument of industrial policy and promotion and their relevance and contribution to the development of Irish industry will be increased.
The Government have also decided on a new structure for the industrial development agencies, involving the establishment of a new single agency with separate divisions for the support and development of indigenous industry and for the attraction of investment from overseas. Legislation to give effect to this decision is now being drafted and I expect to introduce the Bill in the current session.
I have submitted the second report of the Moriarty Task Force for Government consideration and I expect that the necessary decisions will be taken soon on that report and announced in due course.
In connection with the cost of the Culliton report I refer Deputies to the answer given in this House on 10 March 1992 (Volume 417, No. 1; Column 108) in which I detailed costs. The total cost of commissioning and publishing the report was a little more than £337,400, as stated in reply to the earlier question.
