strategy statement03 - 05

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

“We will work for Government and the people to equitably grow Ireland’s competitiveness and quality employment”

Statement of Strategy 2003 – 2005

Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment

Foreword by An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment

This Strategy Statement is set against a much changed economic background from those against which the previous two were set, a background in which Ireland’s global competitiveness is more important than ever. Our competitiveness to date has been the platform for a period of unparalleled growth which has facilitated the economic and social transformation we have seen over the last decade.

But that transformation was in the context of a favourable external environment and favourable exchange rates, and a surplus labour market, and where we were not yet being overtaken by other less developed economies, notably in Eastern Europe and the Far East. In the radically changed circumstances we face over the coming strategy period, 2003 to 2005, our only real option (and indeed the most desirable one) is to adapt to a world where the key competitive advantage is the ability to rapidly translate ideas into goods and services.

As highlighted in the Programme for Government, in order to maintain our competitiveness we need to:

Ensure that pay increases are linked to increased productivity and

performance.

Drive productivity in the sheltered sectors of the economy through

increased competition and regulatory reform - special priority is being accorded to the cost and availability of insurance under this heading.

Continue to invest in key infrastructure, particularly in the areas of

transport, broadband telecommunications and energy.

Strongly focus on increasing the quality of our education and boosting

investment in Research, Technology and Innovation.

I am happy that the structure and content of this Strategy Statement is so closely attuned to the foregoing priorities. The first three pillars of strategic actions and performance indicators indicate clearly how the Department proposes to take action in these areas up to the end of 2005, while the fourth pillar, on Quality, Value and Continuous Improvement describes the vital engine room of departmental actions behind these policy priorities. Finally, pillar five on the European Union indicates how the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will undertake the major challenge of the EU Presidency and Enlargement in the context of our own strategic goals and of helping to make Europe the most competitive economy in the world.