New strategy to attract home-grown talent
The revamp comes at the end of a two-year review of the State business development agency and is expected to have wide-ranging implications for the Government’s industrial policy.
The new strategy is expected to recommend a focus on home-grown entrepreneurs as the key driver of employment creation and signal the end of the country’s reliance on foreign multinationals to create jobs in Ireland.
The Government said earlier this year that Enterprise Ireland faced a radical restructure and its marketing support and overseas operations were in line for sweeping changes.
The body has 33 overseas offices and employs more than 900 people.
It assists Irish exporters in finding partners in Britain, continental Europe, the US, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
The changes were recommended by the Government-sponsored Enterprise Strategy Group, a high-powered steering committee headed by former Lucent Technologies executive Eoin O’Driscoll. The group had been charged with setting out a blueprint for making sure the Irish economy maintained its recent success for years to come.
It featured some of the best-known names in Irish industry, including Kerry Group chief executive Hugh Friel and Reg Shaw, head of Wyeth’s giant biopharmaceutical plant on the outskirts of Dublin.
Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister Micheál Martin in February said the proposed changes would make the agency more performance-driven and better able to meet the needs of Irish business.
A trade mission headed by Mr Martin to three American cities last week saw Irish companies sign deals worth over €15 million with major American partners.
The Government has also been looking into the possibility of merging the enterprise-related activities of mid-western regional development agency Shannon Development into Enterprise Ireland and the IDA.
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