I am delighted to be here this afternoon to address the Annual Christmas lunch of the North Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
As thoughts turn to the Christmas festivities and the New Year beyond, we can look back over another year of significant economic progress. Our economy continues to a leading performer on the global stage, with GDP and GNP growth both in excess of 5%, and similar growth rates forecast for the next couple of years. We are on course for another record year for housing completions, which have increased by 15.2% in Dublin and 16.8% in the Greater Dublin Area for the first eight months of the year. Our unemployment levels remain among the lowest in Europe and our workforce at over 2 million, has reached record levels.
The exceptional success of the Dublin area has been key to the growth of our economy nationally and has seen our economy transformed in terms of its size, labour force and productivity. The Government’s decision to follow a definite and supportive policy in relation to business, in partnership with employers, employees and social partners, has also been a key factor.
But complacency at any stage is our enemy. Ever-increasing competition is inescapable and we must ensure that we are capable of meeting the challenges and capitalising on the opportunities, which economic globalisation brings.
We must make sure that our companies, both here in north Dublin and nationally, continually review and improve their competitiveness and productivity. Productivity is the effective use of innovation and resources to increase the value-added content of products and services. In the long term, it is the key source of competitiveness.
Government’s enterprise policy
Business has been a key driver of prosperity and enterprise policies will continue to emphasise the strategic importance of the business sector to future economic growth. We, in Government, recognise the importance of business in providing a foundation of skills and technologies on which to build our knowledge economy. This is vital for our future, as economic growth will centre on our ability to innovate, generate, absorb and use knowledge.
Our objective is to ensure that our economy remains a globally competitive, profitable and secure location for business. We are committed to policies that foster a supportive environment for business. This involves delivering the right balance of enterprise supports, at the right time, to enable businesses to develop and to capitalise on investment and growth opportunities. We are focused on the implementation of policies tailored to address the competitive pressures transforming the global economy.
Supporting business research and innovation
A key element of this Government’s strategy to help enterprise is to encourage increased levels of investment in research, technological development and innovation across all enterprise sectors. These increased levels will assist firms to produce improved products and services with added value. In the longer term, this approach will provide more sustainable and higher quality jobs.
Innovation encompasses more than traditionally understood R&D activities. It includes creative ideas; new and better ways of working; innovative products and services; and improved ways of marketing and delivering goods to the world. These will be the drivers of future success. Our enterprises must be in a position to take full advantage of this.
Supporting business in Dublin
Dublin has benefited greatly in recent decades from the openness of the Irish economy. We have enjoyed very high relative levels of foreign direct investment from companies such as IBM and Xerox among others that have located here in North Dublin. New investments since 2005 from overseas companies include Google, eBay, Kelloggs, Q logic, San Disk, Actel and Sage. Our ability to attract these world-leading companies is evidence of the success of our policies. It also reflects our commitment to increasing investment in key science and technology focused sectors, as restated in our Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation.
The challenge for business in Dublin is to continue the transformation to an innovative and productive enterprise base.
IDA’s overall strategy to promote inward investment for Dublin is to progress the development of a knowledge economy to allow the City to compete for foreign direct investment. It is also encouraging existing overseas companies in Dublin to expand and diversify into higher value added products. This is in addition to acting as a broker with the higher education authorities, its client companies and the Science Foundation of Ireland to encourage further research and development.
But with greater than ever competition for foreign direct investment, we must also focus on the role of indigenous enterprise and ensure its continued development and success. Enterprise Ireland works closely with its clients to grow their sales and exports and improve innovation in order to compete on global markets. In 2005-2006, it has made payments in the region of €30 million to support development projects to enhance the capacity, capability and performance of indigenous companies in Dublin City and Fingal County. Enterprise Ireland also has a range of service offerings to encourage the set up of high tech, high opportunity indigenous enterprises.
The Agency has a key focus on facilitating commercialisation of research. Since 2003, Enterprise Ireland has approved over €42 million funding to the third level colleges in Dublin under the Innovation Partnership & Research Funding Programme.
It has supported the development and management of campus incubation centres in Dublin City University, Blanchardstown Institute of Technology, Dublin Institute of Technology and in the National College of Ireland located in the IFSC. The Agency has supported customised Bio-Incubation space in the DCU Invent Centre and TCD–Pearse Street. These centres will provide small start up companies with affordable space to research their new ideas and potentially bring about new indigenous businesses.
Enterprise Ireland also works with other agencies in North County Dublin such as the County Enterprise Boards and County Councils in Dublin City and Fingal to develop the business infrastructure and to influence the conditions in which organic growth is established and sustained.
Concluding Remarks
I believe that the creation and diffusion of knowledge is at the core of economic activity and that knowledge is embodied in people like the members of your Chamber. It is the quality of knowledge that will determine the success or otherwise of businesses in Dublin in the years ahead.
I would like to wish the Chamber President, Tony Boyle, the Chamber’s Executive Council and all of the members of the Chamber every success for 2007 and beyond. I look forward to continuing to work with you in furthering the economic and social development of the region and the country generally.
Thank you.
ENDS