Work of the Inward Investment and North South Unit

IDA

In overseeing IDA Ireland, Inward Investment & Policy Support Unit negotiates the agency's annual budgetary allocation in the context of the annual Estimates exercise, in co-operation with the Department of Finance. This includes monitoring the agency's expenditure and its compliance with corporate governance guidelines. IDA receives a weekly grant allocation from the Unit in line with agreed expenditure forecasts and guided by the agency’s business and corporate plans and Government expenditure guidelines.

• More information on the IDA

Shannon Development

Shannon Liaison Section is responsible for monitoring Shannon Development, the agency under its remit, to ensure it delivers an efficient, effective and value for money (VFM) service to clients in line with departmental and national policy. In summary, the section’s responsibilities comprise:

1. Managing Shannon Development’s funding and vote.
2. Monitoring Shannon Development’s ongoing performance while maintaining appropriate levels of financial and corporate governance and providing administrative support.

• More information on Shannon Development

Tariff Suspension and Tariff Quotas

The EU Tariff Suspension Scheme provides for the temporary suspension of duties under the Common Customs Tariff (CCT), on imports of raw materials and components for further processing, where it is established that industry within the EU is unable to obtain supplies of the product, or suitable substitutes within the EU (and where certain other conditions are satisfied). Procedures for making application, forms for Tariff Suspensions / Quotas, and Economic Questionnaire form are set out in a leaflet which is available, free of charge, from Tariff Suspension Unit, Room 417, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Kildare St., Dublin 2.; tel. 631 2350.

At EU level, all tariff suspension applications are subject to detailed examination before decisions to grant or reject them are taken. As a result of the time necessary for this examination process, applications are received in Brussels just twice a year.

• Further information on the Tariff Suspension Scheme
• Current round (closing date 13 January 2012) (PDF, 165KB)
• Guidelines for completion of Tariff Suspension/Quota Application
• Request for Tariff Suspension / Quota (Doc, 22KB)
• Objection to Request for Tariff Suspension (Doc, 18KB)
• Request for Prolongation of Tariff Suspension / Quota (Doc, 14KB)

North/South Policy Unit

The North/South Policy Section of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is charged with co-ordinating the Department's work on North/South policy issues. Specifically, it provides the policy and administrative support to An Tánaiste in her participation at meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council.

The North/South Policy Section is a liaison section for the Department's interactions with InterTradeIreland, the Trade & Business Development Body based in Newry, Co Down. InterTradeIreland is an implementation body established under the Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement and whose statutory remit is provided for in the British-Irish Agreement Act 1999 to exchange information and co-ordinate work on supporting trade, business development and related matters on an all-island context.

The Act of 1999 has been amended by the British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Act 1999 and the British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Act 2005.

The North/South Policy Section is responsible for the drawdown of InterTradeIreland's annual grant allocation and for providing financial returns required by the Department and by the Department of Finance The Department's grant allocation to InterTradeIreland is determined by reference to the body's annual Work Programme, overheads and Government expenditure guidelines.

This Department and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Northern Ireland jointly funds InterTradeIreland, on a ratio of 2:1.

InterTradeIreland

InterTradeIreland was established under the Good Friday Agreement to 'exchange information and co-ordinate work on trade, business development and related matters, in areas where the two administrations specifically agree it would be in their mutual interest.’

InterTradeIreland has evolved its strategy to meet its legislative remit through an ongoing process of research, analysis, project design, pilots, implementation, evaluation and review.

The organisation’s early work addressed a knowledge gap which was inhibiting trade and business development linkages between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This was addressed primarily through the development of 'networks of trust' between the business communities North and South. More recently InterTradeIreland identified, and acted upon, the importance of co-operation through more formal business networks as a key source of knowledge diffusion, competitive advantage and increased trade.

In it’s third Corporate Plan 2008-2010, InterTradeIreland is continuing the evolution of its strategy, building on the principles of knowledge diffusion and co-operation through business and policy networks, and taking as its core theme the optimal utilisation of economic resources through co-operative North/South initiatives.

InterTradeIreland’s value proposition for the business community is to deliver benefits in the key areas of competitive advantage – sales and marketing, science, technology and innovation, enterprise capability development and business networks. All of InterTradeIreland’s initiatives are informed by targeted business and economic policy research and development.

‘The nature of competition is changing, and this is recognised in the enterprise policies of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Innovation-led enterprise is at the core of these policies, and the benefits of economic co-operation between Ireland and Northern Ireland is noted specifically in major policy documents in both jurisdictions. It is within the critically important area of Science, Technology and Innovation that InterTradeIreland will prioritise its efforts…. which will result in the very real benefits of improved competitive performance of firms across the island and growth in the value of trade, internal and external, which will be generated by those firms’.

Dr David Dobbin CBE, Chairman InterTradeIreland.

InterTradeIreland’s Vision is of a globally competitive enterprise environment in which Ireland and Northern Ireland co-operate to ensure the optimal utilisation of economic resources, particularly knowledge resources, to drive additional trade and wealth creation.

Further information on the strategic framework for InterTradeIreland’s activities, and its strategic goals, can be found in the InterTradeIreland Corporate Plan 2008-2010 on the InterTradeIreland website www.intertradeireland.com.

Information on the business programmes provided by InterTradeIreland can be found in the ‘Grow Your Business’ section of the website.

Information on InterTradeIreland’s business and economic policy research, its publications and its work on developing a more competitive enterprise environment can be found in the ‘Policy Research & Development’ section of the website.

Frequently Asked Questions

Co-ordinators' Group on North-South Issues

This Group co-ordinates Departmental positions on North-South policy issues. The North/South Policy Section represents the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation's views on this Group with particular reference to the activities of InterTradeIreland. This Group is chaired by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

• • More on InterTradeIreland