Labour's Manifesto - The Labour Party

A new approach to
enterprise policy
Competitiveness and productivity
gains which generated strong exportled
growth formed the basis for the
Celtic Tiger from 1994 to 2002. We
need a renewal of this strategy in
order to create the foundations for
future economic and employment
growth. However the previous
blueprint will have to change.
New economic realities, the imperative
to decarbonise our economy, and the
need to develop a new generation of
export champions will require a reset
in our trade and enterprise policy.
Labour will place a much stronger
emphasis on the promotion of
services exports, including software,
engineering, financial services,
education and culture.
Labour will establish
a Trade Council to
strengthen cooperation
and coordination across key
departments
To support the development of
exporting SMEs, we will seek
reform of EU procurement rules so
that a greater portion of all public
procurement goes to small and
medium sized enterprises.
We will promptly implement all the
recommendations in the Trading
and Investing in the Smart Economy
Report. In particular, we will establish
a Trade Council to strengthen
cooperation and coordination across
all of the key departments and State
agencies involved in the promotion
and development of trade and
exports. Membership of the Council
will be divided equally between
government and private sector
representatives who have experience
in establishing and growing exportoriented
business both in Ireland
and abroad.
We will appoint a high profile
Trade and Enterprise czar to
work with in tandem with the
Trade Council, who will be able to
draw on full diplomatic and civil
service resources and who will
report directly to the Minister for
Enterprise and the Taoiseach.
A key pillar of Labour’s new
enterprise strategy will be to
position Ireland to develop better
trade relationships with the rising
economies of Brazil, Russia, India ,
and China.
Labour will establish a local trade
and investment team reporting
to the local Irish Ambassador or
Head of Mission and the Minister
for Enterprise in each of the target
emerging countries and other
priority markets. These teams will
execute a detailed local market
plan, with progress against targets
reviewed annually.
At home, Labour in government will
draw on the economic strengths and
connections of Ireland’s immigrant
communities by appointing a
representative from each of the BRICS
and other strategic markets resident
in Ireland as trade champions for their
respective countries, reporting to both
the Trade Council and the Minister for
Enterprise. Trade champions will have
a mission of promoting trade to and
from Ireland and will be supported by
the Department of Enterprise.
Labour will take initiatives to deepen
educational cooperation with the
emerging economies, financed from
Labour’s Jobs Fund.
Labour’s Manifesto www.labour.ie
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