Social enterprise has the potential to deliver thousands of new and sustainable jobs for communities during the lifetime of the present government, Philip O’Connor, Chairperson of the Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Task Force (SEETF) stated at the group’s 2012 Annual Meeting in Dublin.
The meeting was addressed by Sean Sherlock, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. A report on development of social enterprise is currently being prepared for government by Forfás, as part of the National Jobs Strategy and is likely to be implemented in 2013, to which SEETF has made a detailed submission.
Philip O’Connor said that Ireland lags quite far behind European levels of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship activity.
“To attain the average European levels of employment in this area, an average of 5,000 jobs per year would be created in Ireland over the next five years. SEETF believes the government should initially seek to move towards the European average on a graduated basis.
This can be achieved by treating social enterprise and social entrepreneurship initiatives similarly to conventional sources of employment, while acknowledging the specific community motivation that drives job creation in this area,” he said.
A key requirement is that the Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation, with the assistance of Forfás, should assume primary responsibility for developing a national strategy, in consultation with the sector. Among other key requirements are:
Incorporating social enterprise into the service-provision brief of County Enterprise Boards/Local Development Companies/Integrated Local Enterprise Offices to ensure that these and related bodies provide both existing enterprise support services, Promoting the use of community benefit/social clauses for all public and local authority tendering procedures in Ireland, with the medium-term aim of making their inclusion mandatory in the area of procurement
Adopting a clear implementation plan in the review of the national jobs strategy, due in early 2013.
The EU Commission is currently seeking to promote social enterprise though a number of initiatives, including the Social Business Initiative.
“The Irish government should become actively involved in this process, to ensure it can avail fully of future funding that will be available from Brussels in this regard,” Philip O’Connor said.
SEETF was established in 2009 to promote social enterprise and social entrepreneurship as a viable and vibrant part of the Irish economy. The members of SEETF are Clann Credo, Dublin Employment Pact, Social Finance Foundation, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, The Wheel, Partas, CLPN, ILDN, DCC, Dunhill Rural Enterprises Ltd and SocialEnterprise.ie.