The Department of Equality

Permabear

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peasant

Far more signifcantly (I find) ..."employment" no longer figures in any department description :eek:

EDIT
And as "science" gets replaced with "skills", I think I found the "innovation" already

Économiste Monétaire

donegalfella wrote: »

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Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform?

Permabear

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Économiste Monétaire

donegalfella wrote: »

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According to Cowen's speech:

It is important, while addressing the priority issues in responding to unemployment and driving economic recovery, that we do not lose sight of the importance of social development, the targeting of the most vulnerable and support for those working to make a difference right across our communities. I have therefore decided that the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs will become the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs and will incorporate responsibility for social inclusion policy and family policy from the Department of Social and Family Affairs and for equality, disability, integration and human rights from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/taoiseachs-speech-to-the-dil-2108581.html

Laminations

As mentioned above we have a dept of equality. It was part of the justice brief. Its now been moved to a department with more of a community focus. I know as c libertarian the idea of equality keeps you awake at night but i'm quite sure this department will be nothing like anything from 1984 and no one will be coming to prize your riches from your cold clutches to redistribute to lazy scrotogers. Nothing to see here.

Économiste Monétaire

I believe that's the department Colm McCarthy wanted to liquidate. It's probably an attempt to give it some meaningful function, while keeping up the image of a government that cares about 'rural affairs'.

Liam Byrne

peasant wrote: »

Far more signifcantly (I find) ..."employment" no longer figures in any department description :eek:

+1,000,000

Instead of a specific dept and Minister to work towards much needed employment, FF do the opposite. :rolleyes:

Maybe it's a cunning* ploy so that when they don't manage to generate any employment, we'll have no-one to blame ?

*FF style definition : self-congratulatory sniggers on the backbenches, but transparent as f.... to anyone with a brain

Scofflaw

donegalfella wrote: »

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...he asked, via the Web (CERN) and over the Internet (DARPA)...

amused,
Scofflaw

Dirk Gently

keep looking, I'm sure you'll find your reds under the bed soon.

Cannibal Ox

donegalfella wrote: »

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It's the new buzzword, all the rage since the Innovation Taskeforce published its Report. Expect to hear it ad nauseam for the foreseeable future.

Apparently, we're being encouraged to create ecosystems of innovation that utilize our vast repository of human capital and, through a productive synthesis of universities and entrepeneurs, construct a knowledge economy.

The Raven.

donegalfella wrote: »

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You missed one:

Old: Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism
New: Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport

Hardly surprising with this bunch of philistines. I wonder what their definition of 'culture' is.

Nitochris

donegalfella wrote: »

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Could it not also evoke The Social Contract of Rousseau (1762), where the Government does not protect the wealth and the rights of a powerful elite, and instead is based on the rights and equality of everyone. This would have included communities, networks of individuals connected through factors such as locality, class, kinship, networks etc.

Rousseau 1762 wrote:

These clauses, properly understood, may be reduced to one, the total alienation of each associate, together with all his rights, to the whole community; for, in the first place, as each gives himself absolutely, the conditions are the same for all; and, this being so, no one has any interest in making them burdensome to others.

Rousseau 1762 wrote:

If the object is to give the State consistency, bring the two extremes as near to each other as possible; allow neither rich men nor beggars. These two estates, which are naturally inseparable, are equally fatal to the common good; from the one come the friends of tyranny, and from the other tyrants. It is always between them that public liberty is put up to auction; the one buys, and the other sells.

dlofnep

donegalfella wrote: »

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There are alot of innovation centres around the country, nurturing startup companies and concepts. I was at our local one today on a college excursion, and they were quite adament on the important of maintaining and increasing support. It's places like that, that allows for graduates who have a good idea, but don't have the experience to make something happen get feedback, and operate in an innovative environment that will allow them to reach their potential.

The more home-grown businesses the better. We can't rely solely on foreign investment. Affording people the opportunity to work in these innovation centres will allow for this to happen.

I think it's one of the rarely good moves this Government has made.

southsiderosie

dlofnep wrote: »

There are alot of innovation centres around the country, nurturing startup companies and concepts. I was at our local one today on a college excursion, and they were quite adament on the important of maintaining and increasing support. It's places like that, that allows for graduates who have a good idea, but don't have the experience to make something happen get feedback, and operate in an innovative environment that will allow them to reach their potential.

The more home-grown businesses the better. We can't rely solely on foreign investment. Affording people the opportunity to work in these innovation centres will allow for this to happen.

I think it's one of the rarely good moves this Government has made.

Ireland along with many other governments wants to push innovation as the way forward a la Silicon Valley. But there are two key components missing in all of this. First is a culture that celebrates entrepreneurship. This goes beyond banal speeches; in the US, people who successfully start their own businesses are admired, not begrudged, and if their businesses fail it is relatively easy to declare bankruptcy, dust yourself off, and try again. Secondly, there needs to be an easily accessible flow of private capital to back it up. Again, using the US as a model, a 21 year old at MIT or Stanford who has a good idea will probably get financing. It's not clear to me that this is the case in Europe, especially since 1) universities here do not have the kinds of relationships with the private sector that American universities do, and 2) universities here do not maintain the kinds of strong alumni networks that provide another potential source of financing for young entrepreneurs on campus.

I don't think that innovation necessarily needs to be a government brief. Instead, they should make it easier to start and shut down a business, and perhaps structure tax laws in a way that creates a favorable environment for venture capital. They can also put more money into funding basic research in university labs, which could then be further developed and commercialized by start-ups. Anything else smacks of "picking winners" which most governments historically have a horrible track record of.

Eliot Rosewater

southsiderosie wrote: »

I don't think that innovation necessarily needs to be a government brief.

In fact you could argue that the best way to promote a culture of entrepreneurship is to ensure it is not a government brief. It's very disheartening to talk to small business owners who are under huge pressures from formal administration. A man I know runs his own carpentry outfit and says the paperwork and red tape consumes a large chunk of his time; time, he feels, is wasted.

Thats why I find it funny when people say "the government needs to promote business". I say the best way for the government to promote business is to get out of it; reduce red tape and admin etc. But this reluctance to leave things alone is connected with the suspicion of the free market, the inability to let the "invisible hand" work on its own and even, perhaps, a general begrudgery towards success, which you mentioned.

dlofnep

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

In fact you could argue that the best way to promote a culture of entrepreneurship is to ensure it is not a government brief. It's very disheartening to talk to small business owners who are under huge pressures from formal administration. A man I know runs his own carpentry outfit and says the paperwork and red tape consumes a large chunk of his time; time, he feels, is wasted.

Thats why I find it funny when people say "the government needs to promote business". I say the best way for the government to promote business is to get out of it; reduce red tape and admin etc. But this reluctance to leave things alone is connected with the suspicion of the free market, the inability to let the "invisible hand" work on its own and even, perhaps, a general begrudgery towards success, which you mentioned.

heard that also from a startup company - the paperwork was too much, taking time away from more important issues.

Riskymove

Laminations wrote: »

As mentioned above we have a dept of equality. It was part of the justice brief. Its now been moved to a department with more of a community focus.

its no secret that Justice have never been happy with being lumbered with all that touchy feely equality and disability stuff and have now managed to offload it

thebman

donegalfella wrote: »

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I find it more amusing that we have a department in charge of equality that is also in charge of the Gaeltacht affairs which is basically means they've failed on the equality front straight away IMO.

ei.sdraob

southsiderosie wrote: »

Ireland along with many other governments wants to push innovation as the way forward a la Silicon Valley. But there are two key components missing in all of this. First is a culture that celebrates entrepreneurship. This goes beyond banal speeches; in the US, people who successfully start their own businesses are admired, not begrudged, and if their businesses fail it is relatively easy to declare bankruptcy, dust yourself off, and try again. Secondly, there needs to be an easily accessible flow of private capital to back it up. Again, using the US as a model, a 21 year old at MIT or Stanford who has a good idea will probably get financing. It's not clear to me that this is the case in Europe, especially since 1) universities here do not have the kinds of relationships with the private sector that American universities do, and 2) universities here do not maintain the kinds of strong alumni networks that provide another potential source of financing for young entrepreneurs on campus.

I don't think that innovation necessarily needs to be a government brief. Instead, they should make it easier to start and shut down a business, and perhaps structure tax laws in a way that creates a favorable environment for venture capital. They can also put more money into funding basic research in university labs, which could then be further developed and commercialized by start-ups. Anything else smacks of "picking winners" which most governments historically have a horrible track record of.

very good post (again)

the universities and institutes here do have many ideas within its staff and student, but you are right the venture capital network is not present, the best you can hope for is getting funding for research with enterprise ireland and some company in an innovation partnership triangle deal, but from personal experience these dont amount to much more than a way for milking the government for grants
EI being tied to the government dont have a good record of "picking winners" , venture capitalist are often much much more ruthless and supportive since its their money at stake not the taxpayers

i was approached over a year (more?) ago by venture capital firm in states, the same one which incubated the likes of Skype , i didn't need the money at the time but it was interesting to note that per their own words they didn't know how to operate in Europe when they learned im in Ireland

Anonymous1987

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

In fact you could argue that the best way to promote a culture of entrepreneurship is to ensure it is not a government brief. It's very disheartening to talk to small business owners who are under huge pressures from formal administration. A man I know runs his own carpentry outfit and says the paperwork and red tape consumes a large chunk of his time; time, he feels, is wasted.

Thats why I find it funny when people say "the government needs to promote business". I say the best way for the government to promote business is to get out of it; reduce red tape and admin etc. But this reluctance to leave things alone is connected with the suspicion of the free market, the inability to let the "invisible hand" work on its own and even, perhaps, a general begrudgery towards success, which you mentioned.

dlofnep wrote: »

heard that also from a startup company - the paperwork was too much, taking time away from more important issues.

To put it into perspective though, we are ranked 7th in the world for ease of doing business by the world bank. 9th for starting a business, pretty good overall. The Achilles heal seems to be registering property at 79th out of 183 :eek:. This report actually measures the number of hours spent completing paperwork.

ei.sdraob

dlofnep wrote: »

heard that also from a startup company - the paperwork was too much, taking time away from more important issues.

while things are improving with likes of revenue and cro using the web more

there still is too much red tape for any new company in Ireland

dlofnep wrote: »

There are alot of innovation centres around the country, nurturing startup companies and concepts. I was at our local one today on a college excursion, and they were quite adament on the important of maintaining and increasing support. It's places like that, that allows for graduates who have a good idea, but don't have the experience to make something happen get feedback, and operate in an innovative environment that will allow them to reach their potential. .

you should work in one of them for a while, you would become more cynical then, for most companies its a way of getting cheap rent, the ones close to colleges have a hard time tapping into the resource because dealing with any of the institutions involves paperwork since each one is a pinnacle of bureaucracy,
but yes there are some successes coming out of the "innovation and incubations centres" tho I have a feeling from experience that the ratio is very disappointing

dlofnep wrote: »

The more home-grown businesses the better. We can't rely solely on foreign investment. Affording people the opportunity to work in these innovation centres will allow for this to happen.

yes i agree, but once again why bother going out of your way and starting a company and taking on risk when you can have a cozy existence on dole or working for some mnc

the next centres of innovation in world will be (are) China and India, not Ireland

this whole smart economy speech is nothing more than hot air, peel away they fluff and the picture aint pretty

or maybe i am just too cynical after my experiences

dlofnep wrote: »

I think it's one of the rarely good moves this Government has made.

the best move the government can make is to stop ****ing around and concentrate on things like infrastructure

put in the right soil and companies will grow

anymore

I had a great deal of difficulty in getting one of my TDs to scan and email me a document rather than post it it to me !:D
For TDs technology seems to be a theory they talk about rather than put into action ! As for Innovation, I suspect they think this is something that allows them to get one over their rivals.

southsiderosie

ei.sdraob wrote: »

very good post (again)

the universities and institutes here do have many ideas within its staff and student, but you are right the venture capital network is not present, the best you can hope for is getting funding for research with enterprise ireland and some company in an innovation partnership triangle deal, but from personal experience these dont amount to much more than a way for milking the government for grants
EI being tied to the government dont have a good record of "picking winners" , venture capitalist are often much much more ruthless and supportive since its their money at stake not the taxpayers

I guess the thing that bugs me when I see all of the money and energy that governments put into "research clusters" and "knowledge centers" is that they seem to be missing the bigger picture. Yes there needs to be good basic infrastructure, but fancy buildings, government ministers and more bureaucracy aren't the answer - what's missing is the ethos of innovation, so to speak. For example, MIT is notorious for its ugly, ****ty buildings (only recently has the institute developed fancy labs and offices). Literally, 80% of the furniture is from 1982 and the hallways of the old buildings look like old industrial schools. But the structure of campus life is relatively anarchic - in many ways, the inmates (students) are really running the asylum. Labs and libraries are generally open 24 hours a day, there are random chalkboards in the hallways that people write out and argue over proofs on, and a final "exam" may consist of creating a blimp that cam fly from one end of the football field to the other.

The general point is, it's not the buildings or extensive administrative planning that makes MIT such a hotbed of innovation. It's the fact that the entire ethos of the school revolves around experimentation and creativity, and people are given the leeway to be as weird and wonderful as they want. This in turn attracts more creative, weird people. And after four years of learning and experimentation, they go into industry with an appreciation for the place, and become invested over a lifetime in the success of the institute and its graduates. And over a period of decades, you then can generate a self-perpetuating cycle of bright, creative students, successful, invested alumni and leading researchers (because they like anarchy too!) that can steadily push the boundaries of the possible. That's not something that can be legislated, it's an organic process that takes time - and in the case of Ireland, I think it would take a major cultural shift as well.