Confidential research sharply criticises Enterprise Ireland's performance and its understanding of its clients' needs.

Sharp criticism of the performance of Enterprise Ireland and its understanding of the needs of its client companies is contained in confidential research conducted for the agency and which has been seen by The Irish Times.

A spokesman for the agency said there was no question that the results of the research had been "suppressed" and kept from the agency's board, as claimed by a source. He said the research had not been presented to the board but had been presented to an Enterprise Ireland executive committee comprising most of the top executives with the agency.

The spokesman said matters to do with operational aspects of the agency were matters for the agency's executives, while matters to do with policy were the concern of the board. He said the research at issue was into operational matters and therefore not an issue for the board.

He also said it was "inevitable" that research of this character, into the operational performance of the agency, would produce some criticism.

Enterprise Ireland is the State agency charged, among other tasks, with helping indigenous Irish companies sell their goods in foreign markets. It commissioned Drury Research to undertake a review of its current promotional programme focusing on trade fairs, outward missions and cross-sectoral events.

The research was conducted in late 2002 and early 2003 and focus groups with client companies from four sectors were used:

consumer (giftware);

medical;

software;

education/engineering/ diagnostics.

A common theme that emerged was the perceived inadequate focus of the agency's efforts. While the software companies viewed the performance of Enterprise Ireland positively, the same was not true of the giftware and medical companies. The mixed group companies had a varied view of the agency.

The medical companies, mostly based in Galway, criticised the agency primarily for using "generic events" to target what is a sophisticated sector with a number of sub-sectors. The result was often perceived to be "unfocused events" that failed to deliver new business.

Companies believed the agency needed to take a more selective approach. Researchers felt the criticism reflected a perceived limited understanding of the sector.

It was also felt that the agency had a limited commitment to the sector and that the differing kinds of support required by companies at different stages of development was not accommodated.

Companies felt inward buyer missions were unstructured and unfocused. "Client companies were often asked to meet businesses irrelevant to their sector," the study says.

Giftware companies had a negative perception of Enterprise Ireland's promotional activities, arguing there was "little or no co-ordination between Dublin and international markets as to a strategic approach to the sector". Few companies attended the 2002 trade events because they felt they were "unfocused, hence generating a poor return on investment", the research says.

The researchers found a consensus that the agency "had limited understanding of the market and was failing to consult with experienced Irish operators to draw on their knowledge".

The software sector was the most positive of those studied. Companies praised Enterprise Ireland for its assistance and for the briefings and other activities preceding foreign events.

The mixed group companies had disparate views. Companies tended to think the agency excellent on outward missions at providing international links. However, there were mixed views about its relationship with client companies.

Some believed the agency provided an excellent network internationally while others felt that it was a good place to start for companies entering a market, but was unable to assist on companies' developing needs within a short time.

There was a perceived high level of inconsistency in the quality of trade events and outward missions.

Apart from the software sector a key issue was the tendency of the agency to adopt formulaic promotional events without consultation.

There were criticisms that it did not properly understand some sectors and was bringing companies on trade missions that were of little benefit.