Commenting on the strategy, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said: Enterprise 2025 sets out the ambitious targets which we want to deliver. By 2020 we aim to have more people at work than at any time in the history of the State, with over 220,000 extra jobs created by then. In order to deliver on this we will have to continually reform our programmes, work hard under the bonnet within Government, and form new partnerships between Government and enterprise. And through the annual Action Plan we will deliver on the nuts and bolts of this.
Government has launched a new strategy targeting the creation of an additional 221,300 jobs over the next five years, to bring the number of people in employment in Ireland to 2.18 million by 2020. This would be the highest number in the history of the State.
At the centre of the Enterprise 2025 Strategy is delivering sustainable, enterprise-based jobs growth. Ambitious targets have been set for competitiveness and productivity, unemployment, exports, and FDI projects as part of the Strategy.
What does this mean for Irish business? Key measures in the Strategy to help Irish businesses to start, grow and expand include increasing in the number of start-ups with better survival rates, creating more Irish-owned companies of scale, developing businesses exports to international markets, and encouraging research and innovation in Irish companies.
Interested in finding out more about Enterprise 2025? Read on for more about the strategy's targets, and how they will be delivered.
What are the strategy's key targets?
The strategy sets out a number of key targets for the next 10 years, including:
- Achieving and retaining a top three competitiveness ranking
- Unemployment in each region being within one percent of the State average by 2020
- A 60% increase in EI enterprises spending more than €1m on R&D and winning €3.6bn in R&D related FDI
- Delivering between 2% and 2.5% productivity growth per year in Irish companies
- A 50% increase in exports by Irish companies by 2020
- An extra 1080 inward investment projects
- 105,000 new jobs by 2020 in the export sector, including tourism
How will these targets be delivered?
To meet these targets over the next 10 years, measures will be delivered in three key areas:
- Create a step-change in the performance of our enterprises: The strategy sets out to create more Irish-owned companies of scale, an increase in the number of start-ups with better survival rates, more enterprises exporting across to different markets and more businesses investing in research, development and innovation.
- Build a real and distinctive competitive edge and differentiate Ireland’s offering: This will be done by developing, retaining and attracting skilled people; creating attractive places for businesses to invest and for people to live and work; and implementing a knowledge development box and supporting research, development and innovation through a number of initiatives.
- Excel in creating a jobs-fit environment and getting the basics right: The strategy also sets out how it will achieve a jobs-fit environment by 2025, with taxation policies, investment and access to finance all playing central roles.
Action Plan for Jobs
In 2012 the Government published its first Action Plan for Jobs, its key strategy to create the right conditions for job creation in Ireland. The Action Plan for Jobs targeted the creation of 100,000 extra jobs by 2016. The target was achieved 21 months early. The experience and learnings of the Action Plan for Jobs process underpins this new Enterprise 2025 strategy; the Action Plan for Jobs process will be the vehicle for delivering on it.
For more information
Read the Enterprise 2025 launch press release.
Read the full Enterprise 2025 summary report.
Find out more about Government's Action Plan for Jobs.