A “ROBUST” economic planning unit at the Department of Finance will define an economic plan for the State over the next eight to 10 years, secretary general John Moran has said.
Mr Moran said that, in the past, economic capabilities had tended to be spread around the department. These would now be “recentralised” to deliver better results.
“We will have a new economic planning unit, which will look at the forecasting of the economy but will much more importantly take a strategic view of our economy and define what our economy should look like,” he said.
Mr Moran said the unit would help drive economic recovery and jobs by identifying the sectors that deliver capabilities for growth and making sure barriers to initiatives in those areas can be removed.
“To do that, what we need is a much more robust economic strategy team that can really analyse for us the impact of decisions that we make along the way,” he said.
Mr Moran said the project management unit would be enhanced.
He praised the existing “efficient” unit for its work under the troika programme, which was one of the elements that had “set Ireland apart” from other countries going through these programmes.
One of the lessons to be learned from the past was that risk capabilities had also to be enhanced. There would be a “greater embedding” of a risk management and “control culture” throughout all areas of activity in the department, “so that we have proper checks and balances in the system”.
Mr Moran said he believed Ireland’s international reputation had been restored in the last year or two and that could be taken advantage of by enhancing the department’s international division.
It would play a greater and more leading role in the development of policies for economic recovery in the euro area, and support the development of stronger economic relations outside traditional markets.
He said the diplomatic system should be “leveraged much more efficiently” so that every embassy should be “properly connected” to ensure that Ireland’s advantages were promoted.
Mr Moran said the department’s most significant initiatives had to be identified and resources realigned in line with the revised version of finance’s strategy plan for the years up to and including 2014 that he launched yesterday.
He outlined a series of goals for the department, as well as a series of short-term strategies to meet those goals.
Among these were the completion of the restructuring of the banking system and a “vibrant, secure and well-regulated” financial sector. Formulating solutions to the problem of distressed mortgages and difficulties with personal debt were among the strategies proposed to meet this goal, along with the reform and restructuring of the credit union sector and the maximisation of the State’s investment in banks.
Returning Ireland to the international debt markets “so as to achieve the exit from the EU-IMF funding programme at the earliest possible date” was also a goal.
He said there would be a particular focus on initiatives that could contribute to economic growth and recovery. Communications and transparency would also be enhanced, Mr Moran said.
KEY POINTS:
A warning that solving the problems of some sectors of the population may require the use of public funds contributed by others.
A strategy to broaden the tax base and put forward policies to support the promotion of fairness, enterprise and competitiveness.
A resolution to formulate “fair” resolution of the problem of excess debt of citizens.
A commitment to come up with solutions to the problem of distressed mortgages.
A proposal that economic policies should promote increased living standards.
A commitment to maximise the value of the State’s investment in banks.
