Address by Mr. Noel Treacy T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce, at the Smurfit Graduate School of Business UCD, Blackrock, Dublin - Thursday 8th June, 2000. [12 noon]

I am delighted to be here to address the graduate students of the Smurfit School of Business.

City and County Enterprise Boards have contributed significantly to the economic success which our country is experiencing at this time. The Enterprise Boards have proved to be successful, innovative and effective at developing a structure capable of both generating and tapping enterprise at local level.

The success achieved by the City and County Enterprise Boards is impressive. During the six years, 1994-99, Enterprise Boards have assisted in the creation of over 20,000 manufacturing, service or tourism jobs (compared with an original target of 8,000 jobs in the Operational Programme) at a total cost of just over £72 million, with an average grant cost per job of £3,600. More importantly, the local communities, where these jobs are being provided, derive benefits in terms of increased spending power and the uplift of morale. While job creation is perhaps the principal measure by which the Enterprise Boards will be judged, there are other important activities pursued by the Boards also.

These include school/business links aimed at both primary and secondary level students, enterprise awareness programmes, the provision of management training, mentoring programmes, seminars, the use of open learning packages, business networking through the Plato Initiative and craft development.

• access to affordable finance, depth of infrastructure, lack of scale and deficits at firm level.
• many small or developing firms, were not in a position to undertake strategic analysis, including the identification of their strengths and weaknesses, or to take the necessary steps to address them. Key information deficits at firm level related to R&D and design, knowledge of and access to markets and training and human resource development generally.

It was decided that a role existed for the continued provision of some direct State supports to industry and that a new approach with new structures was necessary for indigenous SMEs. Accordingly, the Government set up a new agency, in July 1998, Enterprise Ireland, involving the amalgamation and restructuring of Forbairt and An Bord Trachtála and elements of the Services to Business function of FÁS. Enterprise Ireland is the organisation charged with assisting the development of Irish SME’s. It’s clients are primarily Irish manufacturing and internationally traded services companies employing ten or more people, and overseas natural resources companies operating here.

Enterprise Ireland provides its clients with a one-stop shop, where both support and advice are available for the key business functions e.g. strategy, research development and design, production, marketing, human resources and finance. It also provides a number of information services to Irish business e.g. specialised services in marketing and technology and broad based information services to meet the needs of start-up or developing companies. These are complemented by on-line, Internet and Web services that allow clients to access information directly, or by using the Enterprise Ireland service as a portal.

Enterprise Ireland and the BICs have recently established a Forum comprising of representatives of both organisations; this forum was established to forge and develop a strategic partnership, between the BICs and the Agency and to promote the objective of balanced regional industrial development.

In June 1999, the National Advisory Council on Teleworking, which I had established a year earlier, presented me with its Report entitled "New Ways of Living and Working - Teleworking in Ireland", which included a Code of Practice on Teleworking in Ireland. If E-Work is to become a mainstream business reality, it is essential that a clear framework is in place to inform employers and those interested in E-Working of what exactly is involved. The importance of a clear direction cannot be underestimated, as for many the main barriers to E-Working are a lack of awareness of what is involved, ignorance as to entitlements and obligations, and of how to go about formulating company policy. Hence, an integral part of the Report of the National Advisory Council on Teleworking was a Code of Practice on Teleworking, drawn up in consultation with representatives of IBEC and ICTU. A core recommendation of the Council was that the Code of Practice be endorsed and adopted by the social partners. The Government, IBEC and ICTU lost no time in endorsing the Code, - known as the "Code of Practice on e-Working in Ireland", which I launched on 10th May, last.

The Code will be of great assistance in identifying and clarifying key issues that need to be addressed in introducing an E-Working policy in firms and organizations, e.g. identification of jobs suitable for E-Working and E-Worker identification, practical considerations such as home office, method of communications, reporting arrangements, health and safety. The Code also provides a useful overview of legislation affecting employees’ rights and employers’ obligations.

A number of Enterprise Ireland’s regional offices have designated Linkage Development Advisors and a number of regional initiatives are underway. Last November, in co-operation with Shannon Development and the City and County Enterprise Boards, 65 industrial sub-supply companies were met over a 3-day period in Galway to assess linkage opportunities and to establish work programmes on their behalf.

• The provision of customised services to individual firms, the organisation of group promotional events and the provision of relevant infrastructural support.
• Developing and maintaining critical market contacts and carrying out market research and information-gathering for clients through the overseas offices.
• Identifying target distribution channels and competitors which could be a means for clients to capture a presence in international markets through alliances or acquisition.
• Arranging group visits to overseas markets and the organisation of trade fairs and buyer missions.
• Sharing key market information (e.g. through library services such as databases).

An open week was held towards the end of 1999 during which more than 500 Irish owned companies met, on a one to one basis, with Enterprise Ireland overseas market specialists to discuss opportunities and develop strategies to take advantage of them. As part of this process in 2000, Enterprise Ireland will undertake 50 trade missions to overseas markets and organise more than 20 inward buyer missions.

Enterprise Ireland has established and participated in a number of initiatives relating to the Border counties, e.g. specific public procurement initiatives aimed at identifying opportunities for SMEs in the Border county area, both in Northern Ireland and in the Republic. The North American Partnership Programme funded by the International Fund for Ireland and implemented by Enterprise Ireland is specifically aimed at identifying partnership opportunities for border county SMEs with North American companies.

Enterprise Ireland, currently operates three US-based Trade and Technology Centres in New York, Boston and Silicon Valley, and will prioritise in a similar fashion, the goals of a number of its international offices in other key geographic markets, e.g. Scandinavia, Germany, the UK and the Pacific Rim.