Advisory Group on Small Business Recommendations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 September 2012

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Ceisteanna (576)

Dara Calleary

Ceist:

576. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation which of the recommendations of the Advisory Group on Small Businesses have been implemented; if he intends to implement all of the recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37412/12]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

The Minister for Small Business, John Perry, chairs the Advisory Group on Small Business. This group published the Voice of Small Business Report in 2011, which was submitted to the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Employment as the recommended small business actions for consideration in the Action Plan for Jobs.

The Voice of Small Business contains fifty-seven actions across twelve broad policy areas. Thirty-four of the Advisory Groups actions/recommendations were included in the Action Plan for Jobs. The first two Quarterly Reports of the Action Plan for Jobs shows that sixteen of the thirty-four actions met their Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 timelines (the others have varying timelines). The two Progress Reports are published on the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation website. Eighteen further actions have different timelines which will be progressed over the remainder of 2012 and reported on in subsequent Action Plan for Jobs Quarterly Reports. The remaining 23 Actions from the Advisory Group’s Report, not included in the Action Plan for Jobs will be considered by the Group for inclusion in the Action Plan for Jobs 2013.

No	Action	Lead Responsibility	Time frame	Status
1	Lending Facilities and Access to Finance
	Address the needs of small business as a matter of priority	DJEI		Ongoing
	Implement Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme	DJEI	Q1 & Q2	Q1 & Q2 complete
	Implement Microenterprise Loan Fund	DJEI	Q1 & Q2	Q1 & Q2 complete
2	Labour Markets Cost and Flexibility
	Implement a coordinated national labour Market Policy	DJEI/DoF/DSP	Q1 & Q3	Q1 complete
4	Cost of Doing Business
4a	Raise awareness among SMEs on reducing energy	SEI/IDA/EI/ CEBS/Ind. Assoc	Ongoing	Ongoing
4b	Accelerate introduction of broad based property tax and water charges	DECLG	Q1	House hold charge introduced
	Advance a range of solutions to reduce costs - Implement recommendations of report of LGERG - Direct Local Authorities to lower their Annual Rate on Valuation for 2012 - Accelerate the national Revaluations Process - Require Local Authorities to consider the impact of development contributions on businesses and competitiveness generally.	DECLG	Ongoing Q1 Q1 Q2 Q2	Q1 complete Q1 complete Q2 delayed Q2 complete
4c	Report on progress to date towards Government 25% reduction target	DJEI	Ongoing
	Audit and review multiplicity of licences required by businesses	DJEI	Q1 & Q3	Q1 complete
	Improve cooperation between State inspection & enforcement bodies incl. development of a Unique Business Identifier	DJEI/DPER/ Other Depts	Q2	Q2 complete
5	Government Procurement – Enabling Access by SMEs
	Develop public sector supply chain access opportunities for small business using prequalification online process	DJEI/DPER/ NPS/EI	Q1 - Q4	Q1 & Q2 complete
	Support training & development of small firms and procurers	NPS/DJEI	Q2	Q2 complete
	Develop and implement a new model for procuring innovation within the public sector.	DJEI/DPER/EI	Q1 - Q4	Q1 & Q2 complete
	Establish an appeals mechanism that facilitates small firms to report concerns	NPS	Q2 – Q3	Q2 complete
8	Improving Cash flow
8a	Make available an Official Notice re: 15 day Prompt payments Rule	DJEI	Q1	Complete in full
9	Managing out of the Crisis
	Develop a one-page guide encouraging small businesses to ask for help	DJEI	Q2	Complete in full
10	Management Development for Growth
10b	Deliver on MDC recommendations – allocate funding for SME management development	DES/Skillnets	Q1 & Q2	Q1 & Q2 complete