strategy statement03 - 05

Figure from page 35

The Department’s net provisional outturn for 2002 was €1,107,161,000, which represents an increase of about 10% over the period from 2000. Adjusting for the effects of increases in inflation, in real spending terms, the total Vote of the Department has in fact shown a marginal decrease.

In the context of programme spend, the trends in gross expenditure under the Department’s Vote shows a marginal decrease of 3.7% over time in labour force development spending, and increases in nearly all other areas of the Department’s activities. The largest single increase in spending has been on Enterprise Promotion and Science and Technology, increasing by nearly €40million from 2000 to 2002, which reflects the priority being accorded to this area generally. The decrease in labour force development spend has taken place in a time of unprecedented levels of labour force participation and a remarkable unemployment rate of about 4%, and also coincided with a reduction in the scale of Community Employment, reflecting the strength of the labour market generally. Notwithstanding such reductions, labour market programmes continue to account for by far the greatest proportion of Departmental spending, representing more than half of the Department’s gross provisional 2002 outturn.

The tightening of the public finances is likely to remain a significant environmental factor during the coming strategy period, the implications of which are discussed in section two.

The recently published National Spatial Strategy (NSS) makes it clear that the continued agglomeration of economic activity and population in the east in general, and Dublin in particular, is unsustainable. The strategy provides a framework within which development can be more evenly spread throughout the country. The identification of hubs and gateways, which can act as magnets for development, and which have the potential to develop a social and economic critical mass, is central to the strategy.

Figure from page 35

Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment

There is a high degree of congruence between the Department’s goals and the strategic approach set out in the NSS. The Department’s agencies have a strong regional focus and have been working to ensure that investment in enterprise is more regionally balanced. The degree to which these efforts are successful will be largely influenced by the ability of other actors to deliver key elements of the NSS in respect of, for example, roads, telecommunications and other infrastructure.

The Department’s institutional environment also extends beyond the ambit of its agencies and statutory bodies to include a range of stakeholder bodies involving the social partners and other government departments and agencies. To date, the framework of social partnership has provided an important mechanism through which many of these relationships are managed and developed.

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As far as overall competitiveness is concerned, a wide range of government policy is relevant – for example, fiscal and macroeconomic policy, regional and spatial policy, and physical infrastructure. Some of the critical cross-cutting relationships in areas such as Science, Technology and Innovation, and the knowledge economy, have already been referred to in detail.

In summary, the Department interacts and collaborates with the following Departments:

With the Department of the Taoiseach on social partnership

issues and on the development of the overall modernisation programme for the public service.

With the Department of Education and Science on science,

technology and innovation, lifelong learning, and skills supply.

With the Departments of Social and Family Affairs, Justice,

Equality and Law Reform and Health and Children in regard to labour market issues such as the National Anti Poverty Strategy, disability issues, activation of the unemployed and immigration.