Tag Archives: Enterprise Ireland

CEO of IBEC Danny McCoy

This morning from 11am.

The Special Committee on Covid-19 Response will meet and hold three sessions.

Between 11am and 1pm, Dr Cillian De Gascun, Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, and Professor Philip Nolan, president of the NUI Maynooth will go before the committee.

Between 2pm and 4pm, the CEO of IBEC Danny McCoy and CEO of ISME Neil McDonnell will address the politicians.

Mr McCoy is expected to call for the immediate removal of Covid-19 quarantine restrictions and the reduction of the two-metre social distancing guideline to one metre.

Between 4.30pm and 6.30pm, the CEO of Enterprise Ireland Julie Sinnamon and Secretary General of DBEI Dr Orlaigh Quinn will go before the committee.

Today’s appearances before the committee follow more than 1,000 Irish researchers signing an open letter to the Government yesterday, calling for an extension of lockdown restrictions in order to “crush the curve”.

Ibec calls for halving of two metre social distance rule (Business Post)

UPDATE:

Fáilte Ireland Covid-19 Support Hub

Currency Impact Calculator

This morning.

As part of its Brexit response, Enterprise Ireland writes:

The continuous fluctuation of the value of Sterling continues to raise concerns among businesses and exporters.

Enterprise Ireland has launched its Currency Impact Calculator tool to help businesses assess whether foreign exchange risk is a critical issue for their business and if so, to guide the company’s foreign exchange risk management strategy….

Currency Impact Calculator here

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From top: Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland; A Lexus IS300h

Ken Foxe, a freelance journalist and assistant lecturer at Dublin Institute of Technology, has obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act, which show the CEO of Enterprise Ireland Julie Sinnamon was wrongly given a company car.

The car was a Lexus IS300h – a model which has a starting price of €37,950.

Government policy, since the end of 2011, states that cars should not be provided to CEOs of non-commercial State agencies.

The documents obtained by Mr Foxe also show the Department of Enterprise and Innovation defended the decision to include the provision of the car in Ms Sinnamon’s contract – while admitting it should have sought sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform – and even asked that Ms Sinnamon be allowed to continue using the car.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform refused to sanction the provision of the car and requested that  Ms Sinnamon’s contract be amended to remove the reference to the provision of a car.

In a letter, dated March 4, 2015, Philip Kelly, assistant secretary of EU Affairs, Trade Policy & Corporate Services at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation, wrote to  Oonagh Buckley, assistant secretary at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, to explain that the situation arose following a ‘breakdown in communication’.

In her reply refusing to sanction the car, Ms Buckley explained that if she was to do so, others would make similar requests.

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Meanwhile, Mr Foxe has also obtained a PowerPoint presentation which was created by Oireachtas staff for the Oireachtas Commission.

It concerned Ireland’s Freedom of Information legislation and how, since amendments were made to the FOI Act last year, there has been a five-fold increase in requests.

The slides show that, following this increase, the Government wants to start publishing details of politicians’ salaries, pensions and expenses, etc., in a manner of its choosing, as opposed to leaving it up to the media.

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As part of the presentation, The Communications Clinic – run by Terry Prone and Anton Savage – was flagged as an example of previous FOI requests received:

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There you go now.

Thanks Ken Foxe

Pic: Business and Leadership and Lexus.ie

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Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Adam Kostyal, Senior Vice President at NASDAQ (middle), at the Web Summit in Dublin last November

Last December Damien Mulley asked, under the Freedom of Information Act, how much the IDA and Enterprise Ireland spent on the webless Web Summit.

Specifically, in relation to Enterprise Ireland, he asked for details relating to…

1) Grants, fees, payments made to the Web Summit/F.ounders
2) Web Summit/F.ounders costs paid by Enterprise Ireland such as speaker fees, travel costs (if any)
3) Costs for Enterprise Ireland for stands, marketing and running events around Web Summit/F.ounders

And the results are in.

Ultimately, he’s found Enterprise Ireland has spent approximately €584,000 over the last three years, comprising of roughly €265,000 in 2014; €175,000 in 2013; and €144,000 in 2012.

Here’s a breakdown of the costs…

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In relation to the IDA, Mr Mulley has found the IDA spent €100,000 ex VAT in 2014; €140,000 ex VAT in 2013 and €80,000 ex VAT in 2012.

Cheap at half the price?

Or too expensive at any PRICE..

We may never care know.

How much has Enterprise Ireland spent on Web Summit? (Damien Mulley)

How much has IDA spent on Web Summit? (Damien Mulley)

Previously: Summit Stinks

Related: Where is technology’s critical culture (Jane Ruffino)

Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland