merrion street

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton today published Delivering our Green Potential, the Government’s Policy Statement on Growth and Employment in the Green Economy. The document outlines the Government’s ambition for growth and job-creation in the various sectors which make up the Green Economy, as well as the range of actions committed to be delivered in order to deliver on this ambition.

The Green Economy globally is worth more than $5trillion, employs more than 30 million people, and is projected to grow at 3.7% per year over the coming years. It has been estimated that up to an additional 10,000 jobs could be created in certain green economy activities in Ireland by 2015 – not including the potential that exists in green financial services, agriculture, marine or tourism.

Actions committed to be delivered by Government to realise this potential include:

•Ensure that, on average, at least 200MW of new renewable generation connected to the grid each year

•Introduce legislation to provide for a new offshore licensing and permitting regime

•Introduce a Pay As You Save scheme to replace the Better Energy Homes scheme from 2014, and a strand of the PAYS scheme to improve energy efficiency in the public and commercial sectors in 2013

•Through Enterprise Ireland, work with indigenous companies to identify and develop export opportunities for green goods and services

•Through IDA Ireland, seek to attract more green financial services companies to Ireland

•Support a sustainable approach to agriculture through Food Harvest 2020

•Target growth in Green Tourism

•Prioritise research and development in areas including Sustainable Food, Marine Renewable Energy and Smart Grids/Cities as per Research Prioritisation Report

Making today’s announcement, Minister Bruton said:

As many commentators have recognised over recent years, the green economy is a sector where Ireland has major potential for jobs growth, due to the rapid growth of the sector globally, our natural advantages in the sector as well as our business-friendly and open economy. We also have cutting-edge companies, both indigenous and multinational, already operating in this sector, and a world-class research and development system. It is estimated that well over 10,000 extra jobs could be created over the next number of years, and we are determined to act decisively across Government to ensure that the proper measures are put in place to realise this potential.

Today, as part of the Action Plan for Jobs, the Government has outlined our ambitions for jobs and growth in this sector, as well as the measures we will implement across all Departments in order to realise those ambitions. We are targeting growth across the range of activities in the green economy – renewable energy, energy efficiency, financial services, agriculture, tourism, waste and water management, green products and services and low carbon transport. We are putting in place the proper supports through our research and development systems to ensure that we can create not only the companies that will create jobs in this decade but also the businesses that will create the jobs we need in the 2020s.