Suffolk County Council

Last week, the majority (55-11) of Suffolk County Council’s councillors voted to cut its costs by 30% over the next three years by outsourcing most of its services.

Half of the Council’s spending of £1.1billion is ring-fenced for schools and education, which will be kept in-house, but the rest will be outsourced.

Council Leader Jeremy Pembroke said: We need to be bold, imaginative and to recognise the benefit in enabling services to be delivered from outside the authority. We need to be brave enough to trust the voluntary sector, charities and communities and the private sector to deliver services. This decision was made with consideration of the financial deficit in the public sector and the government’s priority to reduce the deficit and the size of the State.

The Council’s press statement added: By changing the way council services are delivered, the county council will be able to reduce costs, reduce it size, cut out waste and bureaucracy and give the people of Suffolk a better say on how they receive services.

Imagine an Irish City or Council Manager making such a statement………………

John Hartnett, ITLG – Innovation Fund Ireland

John Harnett, President and Founder of the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG), was the guest speaker at the Fujitsu sponsored SMART Series. This Dublin Chamber breakfast event was attended by over 100 members and guests.

John, who is based in Silicon Valley,  highlighted Ireland’s attractions (Technology, Talent, Tax) and said our success or failure depends on the coountry’s capacity to innovate. He cited the case of Israel as it has a similar population to Ireland and a significant diaspora in the US. The main differences between the two countries are that Ireland – despite out best efforts – does not exploit its business networks across the US as systematically and agreessively as the Israelis. Their R&D investment is three times higher than ours (at 2.7% of GDP) and there are 127 companies registered on the Nasdaq, while we have just 3.

His policy recommendations about the need to up our game in relation to education, broadband and giving innovation a higher priority were warmly received.

Brian Hayes, Managing Director, Citibank and John Walsh, Chief Technical Officer, Fujitsu were on the panel.

SMEs who want to know more about the ITLG should attend the ‘Silicon Valley Comes to Ireland’ event that will be held in Limerick on 17th November. Contact liz.mcconnell@nuigalway.ie for details.

Minister Batt O’Keeffe has launched a bid to draw top investors to Ireland as part of the €500m Innovation Fund Ireland. Expressions of interest have been sought by 26th November from global venture capital firms and experienced investment managers to invest in innovative Irish SMEs. Enterprise Ireland and the NPRF will manage the tender competition. Some €250m has been pledged with VCs expected to provide matching funds. Garrett Murray at EI (7272815) is the person responsible.

MBA Association – Is Ireland’s Public Sector ‘Fit For Purpose’?

In a personal capacity I presented a paper to the MBA Association of Ireland which addressed the question: is the public service ‘fit for purpose’?

The paper deals with the implementation of the Croke Park deal; the public capital programme; reform of the local authorities; the review group on State asset and liabilities; and how our €20 billion Government deficit might be reduced.

We need a more informed debate on these issues and I hope my contribution is useful in that regard.

ecar ireland

Paul Mulvaney, Managing Director of ESB Cars, presented at the Dublin Chamber Green Economy Group this morning.

This project – to have 10% of all Irish road vehicles electric by 2020 – is moving at a good pace.

Motor distributors intend to supply the Irish market with 6,000 electric vehicles (EVs) by 2012 and this figure is set to rise to 230,000 registrations by 2020.

Why would you buy an EV?

There are four reasons.

1. At 1-2 cent/km (using the night time electricity rate), it is much cheaper to run than petrol/diesel at 10-12 cent/km.

2. EVs are exempt from VRT.

3. They are a great drive; I was fortunate a few weeks ago to test drive the Renault Fluence which will be sold in Ireland next year.

4. EVs almost halve transport greenhouse gas emissions (projected at 55/grams/km by 2020 – allowing for significant wind penetration)

ESB intends to provide one charge point in every town with more than 1,500 population; some 2,000 domestic charging points will also be installed; and 30 fast-charging points will be available every 60 kms along the inter-urban road network. ESB has concluded that investing in the charging point infrastructure is a better commercial proposition that spending money on battery replacement facilities (The Better Place model).

Safety issues, standardisation of equipment and ICT inter-operability are some of the challenges which ESB is grappling with.

Even at this early stage there are clear business opportunities emerging, for example for phone app designers, for a range of ICT applications and for the installation of roadside and domestic charge points.

Ireland is ahead of the curve at this point in time in pressing for a national  and integrated solution.

Will other electricity generators apart from the ESB get involved in this exciting venture?

Grangegorman

The Grangegorman Development project will be launched by the Taoiseach tomorrow.

This is a most exciting, strategically important and transformational project that will be of considerable benefit to the Dublin City Region and to Ireland generally.

This much under-used 73 acres site will become a centre of excellence for both education and healthcare uses and will in time be connected to the city centre public transport network when the LUAS BXD line is operational.

The patience and determination of the DIT and the HSE project teams who have worked for many years to bring this project to fruition is finally rewarded.

While it will be some time before the entire project is completed, the important thing is that a start is being made.

The next stage involves statutory consultation of the Grangegorman Development Agency‘s Strategic Plan, which includes an award-winning master plan.

Earlier today I re-read the 2001 report which made the case for the development of the site. As the report’s principal author I have more than a passing interest in the official launch.

The Government’s decision to press the ‘Go’ button should be warmly welcomed.

Business After Hours at the O2

There was great buzz at the Chamber’s lastest Business After Hours event with some 200 in attendance.

I met the following members and the guests:

Richard McGuinness, MD, wefoundit.ie (www.wefoundit.ie)

Sam Smyth, Owner, Plant Life Piazza (www.plantlife.ie)

Pat Walsh, Director, Sky Business Centres (www.skybusinesscentres.com)

Tom Griffin, MD, aim (www.aim-relocations.com)

Philippe Gaud, Operations Coordinator, CEI Dublin (www.cei4vents.fr)

Denise Leahy, Sales and Marketing Manager, Grand Canal Theatre (www.grandcanaltheatre.ie)

Clodagh Flanagan, Business Development Manager, Abbey Travel (www.abbeytravel.ie)

Mark Kelly (www.iping.org)

Fiona Flynn, Business Development Manager, Staff Balance (www.staffbalance.ie)

Niall Dowling, Account Director, Atomic (www.atomic.ie)

Brian OhOisin, Director, Careerzoo (www.careerzoo.ie)

Garrett Wall, General Manager, SMART Monitoring (www.SmartMonitoring.ie)

Sunday Business Post

Here is a short ‘op ed’ piece which I wrote for today’s SBP:

Only when business confidence is restored will consumers spend, will companies invest and generate employment opportunities and will the economy return to a sustainable pattern of economic growth.

The majority of businesses in Dublin and Ireland are SMEs; these companies are the bedrock of the economy and employ of the majority of the country’s employees and are also the business group most exposed to the current economic and banking crisis. Therefore it behoves Government to take immediate and robust action to assist Ireland’s entrepreneurs to weather this storm. The highest priority in the forthcoming budget should be a package of measures to support SMEs, including a loan guarantee scheme.

Some parts of the economy are showing positive signs of recovery. Exports continue to grow. Foreign direct investment activity is positive. Every time an investor opts for Ireland it is a clear signal that we have the correct mix of factors to encourage such investment. SMEs can only thrive if the conditions for cost competitiveness and credit supply support their endeavours. The gap in the competitive position of the Dublin City Region needs to be addressed.

The major challenge facing one such SME, my own firm Bid Management Services, is securing working capital as we seek to expand our services. As a small successful business we want to recruit at least five more skilled staff.  As we are not currently exporting and as we employ less than ten people, we fall outside the remit of Enterprise Ireland. The County Enterprise Board could help us but they are facing severe financial cutbacks. To my mind Enterprise Ireland should have its mandate changed to enable its skilled advisors assist indigenous Irish entrepreneurs without restrictions as to numbers employed or their export potential.

DART Underground/City Centre LUAS

A preliminary meeting on the submissions made to An Bord Pleanala about the DART Underground project will take place on Friday 24th September (10.00hrs in the Gresham Hotel).

This meeting is intended to assist the Bord to find out how many people want to make a detailed presentation at the formal oral hearing, the opening date of which has not yet been agreed. Procedural issues only will be allowed to be raised.

Given that the deadline for submissions on the DART Underground was a mere five weeks ago, An Bord Pleanala appear to be keen to fast-track this planning application.

A similar meeting about the City Centre LUAS project takes place later in the dat at14.00hrs.

Climate Change Update

Work is far advanced on the drafting of the Climate Change Bill. Several significant policy issues such as the level of ambition of the Government’s legally binding emission reduction targets have yet to be resolved and are under active discussion at the level of the Senior Officials Group (responsible for climate change). Minister Gormley intends to seek views on the Heads of Bill by way of public consultation prior to the Bill being considered in the Oireachtas. The proposals for draft legislation are expected to be published before end-year. There is a strong expectation that once the Bill is available public and media interest in climate change will be re-kindled.

There is a degree of pessimism that the United Nations Climate Change Conference negotiations in Mexico in December will not reach agreement on a new international arrangement to replace the Kyoto Protocol.  As a consequence the international, EU, and as a consequence national positions on post-Kyoto climate change policy are in a total state of flux. The optimists expect the COP to reach agreement on some technical issues and to determine a clear framework for on-going negotiations that may result in the signing of a replacement agreement to the Kyoto Protocol when the COP meets in South Africa in December 2011. The pessimists see no prospects for an agreement on a legally binding Treaty. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has acknowledged that Cancun will not produce definitive agreements.

When the Climate Change Bill is published, Minister Gormley is expected to make a policy statement about Ireland’s climate change adaptation strategy. Adaptation means anticipating the adverse effects of climate change and taking appropriate action to prevent or minimise the damage they can cause. The statement will focus on what local authorities need to do as well as actions at sector level. The Climate Change Bill may require that a National Adaptation Strategy be prepared within a year of enactment of the legislation.

The Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government is making good progress in transposing the EU ETS and Burden Sharing Directives into national law by way of Statutory Instruments.

The Commission’s proposals in relation to a -30% emission reduction scenario are being assessed by Member State experts against the background of the absence of any sign of progress in advance of the Cancun COP.

Limited work has been undertaken in relation to the preparation of the National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS) for the period post-2012. Until the negotiations at international level on the post-Kyoto arrangements have been settled and given the uncertainty about the EU’s move to a -30% (average) emissions reduction target, the view in Government is that it is premature to begin substantive work on the next NCCS. The work already completed by SEAI on assessing the cost and benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions will greatly facilitate decision-making in due course.

EU-27 emissions fell by 2% (2007 on 2008) according to the European Environment Agency to 11.3% below the 1990 level. This is the fifth year in a row that emissions have fallen at EU level. The cap of total EU emission allowances for 2013 under the EU’s Emission Trading System (ETS) has been agreed provisionally at EU level at 1.927 billion allowances. If it is decided to move to a 30% reduction target the cap would need to be revised. The EU cap excludes aviation emissions. Member States have unanimously supported the Commission’s proposed rules for auctioning of allowances.

Dublin Economic Workshop

I strongly recommend the DEW which takes place (as usual) in Kenmare on 15-17th October.

It is an event aimed at economists obviously, but should be of interest to anyone who wants to be informed and engage in discussion about the key challenges facing Ireland.

The programme is top class and includes presentations by leading experts on the banking crisis, financial and corporate governance, reform of the public service, funding the health service, the public finances and reform of local government.

The guest speaker on Saturday is Brian Lenihan, Minister for Finance.

See you there!

Phone 087 9947461 for details.