In this week’s Public Policy Bulletin, read about the Tánaiste’s US trip to promote Ireland as a place to do business, Ireland’s first Women in Finance Charter, the Department of Finance’s Spring 2022 economic insights and updates on the Work Life Balance and miscellaneous provisions bill. We also cover the launch of the new regional enterprise plan for Cork and Kerry and Government’s finance shared services. Lastly, we tell you about the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland’s recently announced training places.
Tánaiste embarks on IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland US West Coast Trade and Investment Mission
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan and Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy are in the US this week on a joint mission to promote Ireland as a place to do business. The US continues to be the largest single investor in Ireland. Meetings will be held with some of the IDA’s largest existing client and also with potential clients. Plans are also in place for a number of Enterprise Ireland meetings over the course of the week, with key focus on areas such as cyber security, life sciences and ICT.
Read more here.
Launch of Ireland’s first Women in Finance Charter
This week, Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Sean Fleming TD launched Ireland’s first Women in Finance Charter, a collaboration between industry and Government under the Ireland for Finance strategy. The Charter, developed in partnership with Financial Services Ireland, Insurance Ireland, Banking & Payments Federation Ireland and Irish Funds, is open to all financial services firms operating in Ireland.
Signatories of the Charter commit to improving the number of women in management and board level positions to achieve better gender balance and a more inclusive working environment in their organisations. The senior management teams of signatory firms will be accountable for progressing the yearly targets.
Data will be collected and reported on by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) on an annual basis to ensure independent, credible analysis.
Read more about the Charter here.
Department of Finance publishes Spring 2022 Economic Insights
The Department of Finance published their Economic Insights for Spring 2022 last week. This report recognises the heightened economic uncertainty but makes the point that the Irish economic growth model over the medium term will continue to depend on productivity, trade and investment.
One of the main findings suggest that productivity growth remains the predominant driver of economic growth in Ireland. Demand side factors are seen as the main driver for property price variations, with high asking rents coming from low levels of supply.
Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill
Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman recently welcomed approval by the Government of the drafting of a Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, indicating that the intention is for this legislation to be passed and enacted prior to summer recess. This legislation will provide new rights to parents and carers in order to help support a better work life balance, reflecting elements of the EU Work Life Balance Directives.
Under the proposed legislation, parents and carers will have a right to request flexible working, including the right to request compressed or reduced hours. It will also introduce five days leave per year for serious medical care and extend current entitlements to breastfeeding/lactation breaks under the Maternity Protection Acts from six months to two years.
The full Bill is available here.
Minister McGrath welcomes the launch of Finance Shared Services
The National Shared Services Office (NSSO) launched its Finance Shared Services this week, representing the large-scale transformation of finance and accounting processes used by central Government and Offices. Minister Michael McGrath welcomed the launch, stating:
“The modernisation of accounting standards and comprehensive reporting of finance has been a key objective for this Government. Coming from the accountancy profession, I know the extensive value that having rich centralised data available from a single central financial system can deliver, and the value that the NSSO is bringing.”
South-West Regional Enterprise Plan launched
This week, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English was in Killorglin to launch the South-West Regional Enterprise Plan (REP) to 2024. This plan is one of nine new enterprise plans funded by up to €180 million throughout the country and is intended to drive the implementation of the plans to develop and implement collaborative and innovation enterprise projects and support sustainable jobs.
Another Assured Skills Academy announced
This week, Northern Ireland’s Department of the Economy announced a further 20 positions on the Microsoft 365 Cloud Academy. This will be funded by the Department for the Economy and will be delivered by Belfast Metropolitan College.
Successful applicants will receive twelve weeks of pre-employment training and receive a training allowance for this period.
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