Expenditure Review of Enterprise Ireland's Overseas Office Network

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Background

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has finalised a report on Enterprise Ireland's Overseas Office Network – "Expenditure Review of Enterprise Ireland's Overseas Office Network".

The Review can be accessed here:

Expenditure Review of Enterprise Ireland's Overseas Office Network (PDF, 3.26MB)

Expenditure Reviews are carried out by Government Departments to analyse, in a systematic manner, what is being achieved by Government spending and to provide a basis on which more informed decisions can be made on priorities within and between expenditure programmes.

The review of Enterprise Ireland's Overseas Office Network began in Autumn 2002 with the establishment of a Steering Group comprising representatives of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Finance, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Enterprise Ireland and Forfás.

In essence, the Terms of Reference for the Review were:

Identify the need for the overseas network
Examine its activities
Assess the efficency (including Value For Money) and effectiveness of the Network
Examine its administration
Identify possible alternatives

Key Recommendations

The Review's recommendations require Enterprise Ireland to

Develop a formal and coherent stategy for the Network,
Develop a clearer organisational structure for the Network through the creation of a single and dedicated central management structure for the Network,
Review the objectives of the Network and accurately identify its outputs and outcomes,
Comprehensively review its measurement systems with a view to ensuring that is in a position to quickly identify and respond to client & market needs,
Consult with industry representative bodies on a formal and more regular basis, and
Revise its charging policy for services to clients to ensure that it includes a reference to costs.

The Review found that there is a clear rationale and need for the Overseas Office Network and that the Network is effective in assisting clients to develop exports b penetrating export markets. The establishment of an overseas office network is the best model for Ireland taking account of Policy requirements and economic need. The Network would benefit from more formal liaison between Enterprise Ireland and interested enterprise representative bodies.

Enterprise Ireland's clients see the Network as having a considerable impact on export development. While there is room for improvement, the quality of staff, delivery, information and advice is high.

The Review also concludes that as significant resources are allocated to running the Network there is a need to improve the way in which the Network's effectiveness and efficency is measured. The lack of a formal policy and strategy for the Network indicates a lack of central cohesiveness resulting in a need for a clear policy linking the Network to relevant Policy. The Review recognises that the Network collects a considerable amount of data in measuring its activities, however, there are weaknesses regarding the relevance of certain data to the Network's stated objectives and activities.

The Review finds that, as the Network is very important for export development, there is a need for EI to review its current organisation model for the management of the Network with a view to establishing a centralised management structure. There is a need for a clearer policy in filling overseas positions and such a policy should take into account efficiency and effectiveness, both in terms of skill sets required and costs. The review concludes that while the costs of running the Network increased substantially over recent years, the reasons for the increases appear acceptable. The reasons behind regional variations in costs are unclear and these need to be articulated more clearly in EI's decision making process with regard to opening or closing offices.

In relation to the charging for services, the Review shows that the balance between network costs and network income has changed since 1999. This indicates that the charging policy is not being updated in line with costs. There is a need to continually update the charging policy for serivces to clients.