Introduction

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment leads in advising on and implementing the Government’s policies of stimulating the productive capacity of the economy and creating an environment which facilitates employment creation and sustainability. The Department is also charged with promoting fair competition in the marketplace, protecting consumers and safeguarding workers. Working with our Offices and Agencies, the Department’s remit covers a wide range of activity including:

Identifying the future skills needs of enterprise and working across Government to develop policies to meet these needs, including through upskilling.

Leading a whole-of-Government approach to developing a competitive environment for investment, productivity and sustainable jobs.

Promoting quality employment, positive workplace relations, well-functioning dispute resolution mechanisms, safe working environments and legislating for enhanced workers’ rights.

Assisting entrepreneurs and businesses to create and sustain high quality employment across all parts of our country, by developing a strong Irish owned enterprise base, attracting foreign direct investment and strengthening trade.

Ensuring our business regulation facilitates sustainable investment and development, competition in the marketplace, high standards of consumer protection and corporate governance, and provides Ireland with a competitive advantage in the global market.

Orienting policy to help enterprise reduce resource consumption and carbon emissions, meet the costs of decarbonisation and exploit the opportunities of the transition to a low carbon economy.

Working ambitiously across Government with our EU and international partners to advance Ireland’s interests, influence and values in our shared world.

Delivering on Ireland’s ambition to be a digital leader to drive productivity and enable a decoupling of economic growth from resource consumption.

Ensuring best value for money and alignment of Departmental expenditure with policy priorities, informed by data, evidence and robust evaluation.

Assisting enterprise to research and innovate to maintain and create high quality jobs and contribute to building a better society.

Since 2020, the Department has been working to achieve the commitments and priorities set out in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future. We implemented our 2021-2023 Statement of Strategy and progressed our strategic goals during a period when the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU and the impacts of the war in Ukraine were creating unprecedented challenges for the business community in Ireland.

The Department’s priorities are informed by a number of policies and strategies, including the recently published White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030 which sets out the priorities for Irish enterprise policy in the period to 2030. It provides a vision for Irish-based enterprise to succeed through competitive advantage founded on sustainability, innovation and productivity.

Advancing the green and digital transitions in Irish enterprise is imperative. During the lifetime of this Strategy, we will work to deliver on our commitments in the Government’s Climate Action Plan 2023. Our vision accords with the EU Green Deal, which aims to “transform the EU into a fairer and more prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, with no net emissions of greenhouse gases by mid-century”. Our overriding policy focus will be on transitioning to a low carbon, sustainable economic model, both to meet our emissions abatement targets and to seize the economic opportunities arising. Harnessing Digital – the Digital Ireland Framework sets out an ambition for Ireland to become a digital leader to ensure competitiveness, drive productivity and enable a decoupling of economic growth from unsustainable resource consumption.

Our enterprise agencies will act as advocates for digital transformation, with the agenda being integral to their engagement with business.We are continuing to navigate the effects of Brexit and the finalisation of the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU. Ireland’s connectedness to the EU agenda and internationally is of fundamental importance. We will continue to advocate at EU level for policy and regulation that is pro-enterprise, pro-trade and pro-consumer and that promotes an innovationfriendly economy. We will implement the Trade and Investment Strategy 2022-2026: Value for Ireland, Values for the World to enhance the positive contribution that trade and investment can make to our economic development. Ireland’s response to changing globalisation patterns and associated market and supply chain fragmentation will be flexible and agile while providing continuity and stability as an investment destination of choice.

The Department is committed to engaging directly with the business community, employer and employee representative organisations, and other stakeholders in all parts of the country to assist us in identifying, understanding and developing policy responses to the opportunities and challenges in our economy. We have established a number of fora to facilitate consultation, engagement and partnership. This strategy has also been developed in the context of our role in contributing to progressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals in areas including employment, safe and secure working environments, fostering innovation and encouraging companies to adopt and report on sustainable practices.

Successful enterprise policy requires an integrated, whole-ofgovernment approach. We are working to ensure that essential framework conditions are in place to support our policy ambitions and to contribute to the development of a stronger enterprise ecosystem. There are a number of cross-cutting issues that will be crucial to position Ireland for the challenges and opportunities ahead, ranging from infrastructural investment and taxation to regulation and talent.