Speech by An Taoiseach at the Jobs & Digital Economy Conference

I am delighted to be here with you all this morning.

And I thank Dana Strong of UPC Ireland for hosting this timely event.

And at the outset let me congratulate UPC.

You acquired your millionth subscriber in Ireland just a few days ago. It is a fitting achievement for a company that has invested so much in Ireland.

UPC, along with other internet service providers, has been the conduit of huge change in the digital economy in recent years.

As we launch this report UPC are to be commended on commissioning such a useful piece of research.
The report is if you like a snapshot of the Irish, digital revolution.

It shows how much we have changed as a society and as an economy in a few short years.

Your report talks of ‘digital leaders’ and ‘digital laggards’. Given that I have an iPhone and a trusty Nokia 63-10 .I’m the typical politician and fit both camps.

But I have recently met children who are more familiar with interactive children’s stories on iPads than with paper books.

Change is with us and it is constant.

Technological advances are not only beaming messages as gaeilge from the International Space Station given their intuitive nature they are changing the very nature of our society, our economy .how we think how we process information.

The UPC report wisely doesn’t attempt to predict what the digital future will look like.

You know better than most how impossible it is to predict what the next innovation is or what changes and new opportunities it will bring with it.

The Government’s role in this revolution is to try its best to provide the best environment where innovation, enterprise and business can flourish.

Just 20 years ago almost every business could survive without the digital basics of email or mobile phones.

Today they need to be trading online.

Tomorrow is the great unknown.

But one thing is clear from this report is that half of all adults would be interested in running their own business from home at some stage, facilitated by digital technologies.

Therefore, Ireland needs to lay claim to the space of ‘digital leader’ over ‘digital laggard’.

It’s the only way to make the most of the digital economy to assist and speed up our recovery.

Digital Economy in Ireland

In recent years we have made absolutely sure to build up our own digital companies and to attract in the world’s best to set up large operations here.

This week alone, we see Facebook further expanding its footprint in Ireland with 100 new jobs at its European HQ in the Dublin docklands.

Last week, eBay added a further 450 jobs to its Paypal complex in Dundalk.

As you know, Ireland has a strong track record in the software industry. We have the creative, commercial and technical skill-base to make Ireland ‘home’ now to some of the largest, internet companies globally.

The location of world-renowned digital companies such as Google, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Dropbox, Apple, and many others in Ireland is adding to our global reputation as an excellent location for digital investment.

As the global economy continues to embrace a digital future, there are rich and significant opportunities here for Ireland.

Already, for example, not only are we are one of the largest online-games hubs in Europe we are equally one of the largest exporters of intellectual property in the world.

This Government identified the opportunities for our digital game industry and even prioritised it for action in our Programme for Government.

I’m delighted to see job growth and new investment in this high growth sector.

Trading Online

Certainly international, digital businesses in Ireland are leading the digital charge.

But equally certainly many Irish SMEs are not adapting to the new digital future with the necessary speed or comfort.

This two-speed situation is not desirable and certainly not sustainable.

The challenge for this Government is to encourage and facilitate Irish SMEs to embrace the opportunities that new digital technologies can offer.

I want to see small businesses from all over Ireland competing for business all over the world winning back much of the eCommerce trade leaking out of our economy.

We have seen from the Amárach research, much of Ireland’s online spend – estimated at €3.68 billion last year – seems to be going abroad.

A key goal will be to stimulate growth in Irish small businesses by supporting them to trade online.

Tomorrow, we will launch the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2013 with new proposals to help Irish SMEs to do exactly that.

With regards to connectivity, the National Broadband Plan sets out our ambitious strategy to deliver high-speed broadband throughout all of Ireland.

We will do this through a combination of private and public sector investment.

This strategy is designed to provide next-generation connectivity. Implementation of this plan will see Ireland exceed the targets set down by the European Commission in the Digital Plan for Europe.

National Digital Strategy

Improving connectivity has to be more than just future proofing our telecoms infrastructure but should be about getting more people to take advantage of the services and opportunities that exist through the internet. To this end the Government is preparing a National Digital Strategy to outline how we can better encourage the take up of digital technologies.

It’s clear that digital communications and the internet will play an increasingly important role in all of our lives. That’s why it’s so important to focus on digital engagement.

The first phase of the National Digital Strategy will focus in particular on Digital Adoption. It will be about more widespread and better use of the internet by citizens and by business, particularly SMEs and micro enterprises.

Enterprise Environment

This will help towards one of the Government’s main goals: to make Ireland the best small country in the world for business.

This Government is absolutely committed to continuing to enhance the enterprise environment so that companies can grow and expand their activities, provide more jobs, grow their profits.

I doubt there’s anyone here who needs to be persuaded of the Government’s obsession with creating jobs.

Given the potential of the digital sector – as further evidenced by this research – it is clear that digital provides significant opportunity to create new job opportunities but also crucially, to preserve existing ones.

We have a young, well-educated and talented labour force known for its passion, flexibility and adaptability. The IMD World Competitiveness Index places this country first in the world for the availability of skilled labour.

Our key focus in driving the digital economy is to boost economic activity and fundamentally to increase job creation.

The digital economy has the potential to contribute €11.3bn annually to the Irish economy by 2016 and provide 18,000 jobs.

The Government’s Action Plan for Jobs is ensuring that the right supports are available for companies by removing barriers to entrepreneurship and employment across the economy.

Through our Action Plan, we are driving a range of actions to support enterprise to grow and create and retain jobs. Our 2012 Action Plan saw the enactment of 249 specific measures.

More importantly, the implementation of these steps across Government is making a meaningful and positive difference for firms, small and large, consolidating and growing.

Last year we saw the highest number of net new jobs in global companies here in a decade.

Our Action Plan for Jobs 2013 will be published tomorrow, and has been devised over recent months based on our learning’s from the past year.

Irish Economy – Current Position

More generally I’m sure that those running a business in Ireland recognise that our economy has now stabilised.

When we took office in March 2011 we took charge of a country in shock, its reputation, its confidence in tatters.

After three successive years of contraction in 2011 our economy returned to growth with GDP increasing by 1.4 per cent.

In 2012 GDP growth was positive again and is forecast to grow again in 2013.

Our international reputation has been restored and Irish businesses can compete confidently in international markets once again.

Over the past two years we have successfully renegotiated the terms our bailout and banking deals in order to improve our debt sustainability.

The burden of the well-known Promissory Notes has been exchanged for long term bonds; there will be a €20 billion reduction in borrowing requirements in the next decade as we seek to restore the economy to full employment.

This deal will materially improve perceptions of our debt sustainability in the eyes of potential investors in Ireland, leading to lower interest rates and faster growth than would otherwise be the case. It is a step forward in accelerating our path to economic recovery and renewed job creation.

But let there be no doubt, there is still a long way to travel in our country’s journey back to prosperity and full employment. The damage done by the catastrophic economic management of previous Governments will take many years to rectify.

Even as the lower interest rates resulting from the recent promissory note deal reduce Ireland’s deficit, a very large and unsustainable gap between Government revenues and spending remains to be fixed – a gap unrelated to our banking crisis. We continue to borrow far more than we can afford.

Only we in Ireland can fix this problem by reforming the way our State and country works.

That is why we must stick to our economic plan – cutting Government borrowing, restoring our competitiveness and fixing the banking system.
By continuing to make the tough but necessary budgetary decisions, we will ensure that we stay on course for exiting the bailout programme on a sustainable basis and for restoring jobs and income growth for struggling Irish families.

The certainty and predictability of our economic plan allows families and businesses to make plans for the future with confidence.

Digital Economy & Europe

As you all know Ireland currently holds the Presidency of the European Council.

Our Presidency themes are Stability, jobs and growth.

The digital economy is crucial to our agenda not only here at home . but right across our Union.

Growth in the digital economy will promote cross-border commerce and improve competitiveness, delivering long-term advantages for business and consumers alike.
The Presidency will push ahead with legislation to promote Europe’s Digital Economy in issues including cyber security, e-signatures / e-identification, data protection, high speed broadband rollout and web accessibility.

Ireland will host the Digital Agenda Assembly in June 2013, the first time this event has taken place outside Brussels.

The event brings together industry and civil society experts with representatives from the EU institutions and Member States with a view to strengthening cooperation and collaboration around the Digital Agenda.

Conclusion

As this conference continues I hope the digital leaders here will seek out new opportunities in the Irish digital market.

That you will continue to lead by example and show other businesses how it’s done; and together help get Ireland working again.

I want to thank UPCs efforts to increase awareness of the benefits of digital technology.

I would like to thank Dana Strong and her team at UPC and Gerard O’Neill and his team at Amárach once again for this valuable contribution to our understanding on Ireland’s digital future.

I wish you and indeed all the firms represented here today continued success in Ireland’s thriving technology and digital sector.