Official Opening of North Cork Enterprise Board

Speech by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe TD, at the official opening of the new offices of the North Cork Enterprise Board

Blackwater House, Mallow Business Park, Cork

11 June 2010

(View all Photos from the Event)

"It is my privilege to officially open the new offices of the North Cork Enterprise Board here in Mallow Business Park.

Blackwater House is owned by Castlelands Construction - a firm that has left an impressive recent footprint in Mallow.

Beside these offices is the Primary Healthcare Centre where multiple local health services are now located under one roof.

The newly developed commercial, retail and distribution facility in the Business Park shows that Mallow is open for business and forging ahead in these challenging times for the world economy.

From its original site in the centre of Mallow town, North Cork Enterprise Board has helped nearly 180 start-up and expanding enterprises over 16 years, sustaining almost 400 jobs and delivering enterprise training to more than 1,100 local people.

The new building has all the facilities required by a modern development agency in terms of accommodation, training and support facilities.

I would like to take this opportunity to note the Board’s deep regret at the recent death of the landlord of their old premises, Pat Owens.

Pat and the Board had an excellent relationship over the years and he made a huge contribution to the business and social life of his native Mallow and to Cork in general.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

I would like to thank the Manager of the North Cork Enterprise Board, Michael Hanley, for this invitation to speak today.

Michael, who is also permanent Chief Executive of the West Cork Enterprise Board, is in place since last October and he is undertaking a dual role as manager here in Mallow until a permanent arrangement is agreed.

I note, too, that Tadhg Curtis has recently been appointed as Chairman of the North Cork Board.

Tadhg takes over from Emer Howard who served for four years as Chairman.

Tadhg brings a wealth of experience to his role from his time as a trade union official and community representative and his commitment to small businesses is well known.

The North Cork economy is diverse, with a strong agricultural base and tradition of industrial activity.

The road network, in particular, affords the region with many commercial distribution advantages, with towns such as Mitchelstown, Charleville and Fermoy well placed for growth as Ireland enters the economic recovery phase.

Local enterprise development is well served by road links to Cork City and Limerick, access to higher education institutions and centres of research, and a long-established profile in food manufacturing and processing.

The North Cork Enterprise Board’s Advanced Food programme has been rolled out across the country and your enterprise programmes in food development seek to bring existing producers up the value chain through marketing and branding.

Demand for the Board’s skills training and capability development courses has generally exceeded availability.

I am delighted to see that you are partnering with other enterprise boards in Cork to set up business-to-business networks and export outlets to markets as far afield as Poland and Latvia.

It is very encouraging that collaboration is well under way to develop common platforms for international contacts, not least in the giftware and crafts sectors where Cork has carved a distinct market identity.

I want to pay tribute to the Board for involving our young entrepreneurs in its work programme.

Two schools from North Cork - Coláiste Mhuire in Buttevant and Patrician Academy in Mallow - received national Awards in April at the National Student Enterprise Finals which I attended in Croke Park and I want to congratulate them.

The support and expertise of the local community in the form of voluntary - and mostly newly appointed - members of the Board, has evolved through the social partners, local authority and local businesses, State agencies and other business groups keen to work together to develop the micro-enterprise sector in North Cork.

The performance of the small business sector is an important contributor to the overall quality of life and standard of living in this country.

County Enterprise Boards (CEBs) play a crucial role in supporting entrepreneurship and in supporting growth and productivity in micro-enterprise.

Their local focus and agile ability to respond quickly to local needs is a key aspect of the service which they provide to micro-enterprises.

I believe that dedicated State support for the micro-enterprise sector should continue to be provided and such support should be delivered as close to the client as possible.

In the context of the recommendations of the McCarthy Report and continuing pressures on the public finances and staffing resources, I am evaluating the appropriateness of the current structures of the 35 CEBs.

In these difficult times, it is imperative that we strive to exploit fully the potential for reducing administration and overhead costs, while ensuring that the provision of financial and other services to clients is maximised.

Since my appointment as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, I have been reflecting on what institutional arrangements might best deliver the necessary supports to micro-enterprise.

My preliminary conclusions are that the separate legal structures of the 35 independent CEBs presents challenges in terms of staffing rigidities, resource maximisation, rigidities in responding to the impact of the recruitment embargo, and general corporate governance issues with consequential effects on standardisation of service provision across the networks.

Specifically, I am considering the extent to which the structure of CEBs inhibits, for example, the roll-out of centralised resources and reductions in costs arising from the requirement for separate auditing in achieving efficiencies in the recruitment of staff, a re-balancing in staff complements having regard to both the moratorium on staff numbers and client needs, and consistency in corporate governance across the 35 CEBs.

An examination of the role and structures of the CEB network brings into focus whether maintaining a network of 35 boards is ideal.

The role of Enterprise Ireland in supporting indigenous enterprise and the extent to which the agency may have a greater role to play in supporting micro-enterprise and its relationship to the CEBs is worthy of examination.

The CEBs have played a pivotal role in stimulating local economic development through sustaining and growing the micro enterprise sector.

Total net jobs created in CEB-supported companies between 1993 and 2009 was 30,726.

In addition, significant numbers of people were supported in various management training and capability development programmes.

Notwithstanding these successes, the time is now right for us to examine the model and ask whether it is fit for purpose in these challenging times.

I will bring proposals to Government on this before the summer break.

The North Cork Enterprise Centre demonstrates that economic recovery must begin locally towns and villages.

These new premises should inspire us with confidence for the future.

That recovery will be framed by sound pro-business Government policy that is properly regulated and well adjusted to meet the needs of enterprise.

But it will be driven by you - by bold and creative local entrepreneurship.

Over the coming weeks and months, our common task is to secure the recovery and summon a new confidence that lifts the human spirit and allows us reclaim our prosperity.

These words are not mere aspiration - they are based on solid economic indicators.

Most commentators, including the Central Bank and Economic Social and Research Institute, now forecast positive growth in the second half of this year.

That echoes what the Minister for Finance said in his Budget speech in December.

This week, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation revised upwards its Gross Domestic Product forecast for next year from 2.1 per cent to 2.3 per cent.

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, Commissioner Olli Rehn, has predicted 3 per cent economic growth in Ireland next year.

That is among the highest levels of growth forecast for next year by the Commission.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has also predicted 3 per cent economic growth for next year.

Our manufacturing output increased by 7 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

Figures published last month show that headline retail sales volumes rose by 4 per cent in March - the second consecutive month of growth.

New car sales are up 30 per cent and consumer sentiment is improving.

The volume of exports of goods and services declined by just 2¼ per cent last year over 2008 compared to a fall of around 13 per cent in the euro area in the same period.

Our competitiveness is improving.

Unit labour costs fell by over 5 per cent last year, the exchange rate has recovered somewhat which will help exports, and commercial rates and rents have dropped dramatically.

Although unemployment remains far too high at 13.7 per cent, the trend is stabilising and the number of redundancies notified last month was lower than any single month in 2009, bar December, and the lowest we have seen since December 2008.

We are meeting our budgetary targets for public expenditure and taxation and we have instructed the banks to lend to small businesses so that jobs can be secured and created.

I am confident that North Cork can emerge form this recession stronger than before.

For while this may be the age of austerity, it can also be the decade of endeavour.

I wish everyone involved in the North Cork Enterprise Board every success."

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