New measures to help start-ups create more jobs, a push to help Ireland become an energy innovation hub and a drive to slash red tape to make transactions between businesses and the State cheaper are among a number of new steps promised by the Government.

The latest instalment in the Government’s Action Plans for Jobs includes the rolling out of new regional enterprise strategies across the country that are aimed at encouraging organisations to cooperate to develop projects to support enterprise and job creation in their area.

New measures to deliver on ambitious targets for job-creation by start-ups were also announced. These measures include a new SURE tax incentive to provide funding for people starting businesses, and a plan to hold a “Startup Gathering” week of event slater this year.

A national talent drive aimed at increasing the number of ICT graduates by 60 per cent by 2018 is planned as is an initiative to make Ireland a European leader for intellectual property activities by doubling the number of patents, industrial designs registered and other measureable IP activities by businesses in Ireland.

The 2015 Action plan is the fourth in a multiannual process, which was first launched in early 2012 and aimed at delivering an extra 100,000 jobs by 2016.

Government sources say they are on course to deliver on that target during 2015, over 12 months early.

Among other measures announced under the latest plan on Thursday is the establishment of a National Health innovation hub and an energy innovation hub.

An increased focus on job-creation in the domestic economy, including measures to support the retail, construction and agriculture sectors is included in the latest instalment of the plan, as is a new €39 million fund for businesses that will help them to make energy savings.

The new plan was unveiled at the headquarters of Icon, which used the occasion to announce that it is to create 200 new jobs.

The clinical trials firm, which employs 1,000 people in Ireland, said the new jobs will be divided between Dublin and Limerick.

Reaction

Ibec welcomed the Government’s latest Action Plan instalment, which it said contained a number of useful initiatives to support enterprise and job creation.

“In recent years the Action Plan for Jobs has been successful in better coordinating and aligning policy across government to support job creation. The new plan has a number of useful, new and innovative initiatives. Skills shortages are increasingly becoming a problem for many businesses. It’s good to see new measures to improve the skills of the labour force and attract new talent to the country,” said Ibec’s head of policy and chief economist Fergal O’Brien.

“The focus on promoting business in the regions and the launch of new competitive funding initiatives is particularly welcome. The Dublin jobs market is very strong, a crucial challenge now is to spread that jobs recovery across the country,” he added.

The organisation warned however that a new and ambitious capital investment plan and meaningful tax reform was also required to help drive the economic and jobs recover in Ireland.

The American Chamber of Commerce Ireland also welcomed the latest plan saying the commitment to a national talent drive would be welcome by multinationals based here.

The organisation’s president Eamonn Sinnott said the organisation was pleased to see the focus on key growth opportunities for both Irish and FDI employers including the areas of energy; data; intellectual property creation and commercialisation and the internet of things.

“The Government’s determination that Ireland will be a leader in Europe in innovation is especially welcome and we believe it is critical if we are to continue to create high-value jobs,” he said.

Isme said the measures announced on Thursday would likely have a positive impact on the business community.

“We certainly welcome the inclusion of performance measurement, as previous plans have omitted this essential element. This version must concentrate on disruptive reforms to address the issues stifling the SME sector such as high business costs, red tape and social welfare traps which diminish competitiveness,” said Isme chief executive Mark Fielding.