Harney sets up group to plan industrial policy

A strategy group charged with drawing up a blueprint for industrial policy until 2010 has been established today by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Ms Harney.

The group is to be chaired by industrialist and businessman Mr Eoin O'Driscoll and is to report to the Tánaiste in six to nine months.

The group's report will analyse current policy and outline a strategy for future growth and employment similar to the 1992 Culliton Report.

Ms Harney said the group's work had "the capacity to be the catalyst that would catapult Ireland to the forefront of the world's leading knowledge-driven economies".

She said: "The Irish economy is undergoing fundamental change. We are experiencing something of an industrial revolution at a difficult time globally".

"Ireland is no longer a low-cost location for investment and the factors that have helped to make us one of the most dynamic economies in the world, such as a plentiful supply of good quality workers and a relatively low cost base are becoming less and less relevant.

Ms Harney said: "The Government is investing unprecedented funds in developing a world-class research community in the country. We must build on these strengths as we adapt to our changed circumstances and make the transition to a knowledge-based, research and innovation driven economy.

"Put simply, in the past we have been excellent at making products designed by others; in the future we will have to design and innovate our own," she said

Ms Harney added: "I want our enterprise strategy to reflect the thinking, the experience and the knowledge of those who are at the coal-face of business".

"That is why I am delighted that Mr Eoin O'Driscoll has agreed to chair the group," she added.

Mr O'Driscoll is the managing director of technology consulting firm Aderra and was formerly the vice president international operations for Lucent Technologies and managing director of its Irish operation.