ANALYSIS:AWARDING YOURSELF an A+ on an exam you have set yourself, then holding back the announcement of this wonderful news until you have something that can be portrayed as corroborating evidence of your genius, might cause a jaded cynic to shake his head and smile knowingly.
Yesterday the Government announced it had done 96 per cent of the things it had said it would do to improve conditions for job creation on the day the world’s biggest company announced a huge employment expansion.
Reason to be cynical?
Apple’s announcement of 500 new jobs in Cork is a shot in the arm for the second city and a vote of confidence in a beached economy. The continued capacity to attract foreign investment and have companies already here reinvest in their Irish operations is unambiguously positive and should be celebrated.
Before discussing the substance of what the Government claimed it had done yesterday, consider the spin. Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton announced his welcoming of Apple’s decision in time for breakfast news shows. He detailed his hitting of his jobs plan targets in mid-morning. Lunchtime news had back-to-back good news stories on jobs.
Effective news management should not necessarily be scoffed at as crude manipulation, even if it sometimes is. Governments and ministers who are good at explaining themselves are generally more likely to be good at getting things done.
That is particularly vital as regards employment. Nothing will boost confidence more than having hope about jobs.
So much for the spin, what about the substance?
The three-month-old action plan for jobs (not to be confused with last summer’s jobs initiative) aims to remove the many small hindrances to employment creation.
In the 48-page progress report, detail on the 80 (of 83) targets was quite convincingly set out.
Inevitably, though, there is padding in the report. The issue of business rates, for example, is hugely problematic for small companies. If one sat down to design a local government funding system, nobody would propose the current system.
Any structure that wouldn’t be created if it didn’t exist deserves radical change.
Instead, the action plan commitment is to “build on the positive response to date from Local Authorities to requests from Government to exercise restraint in setting rates for businesses”.
That will come as enormous relief to businesses being squeezed from all sides.
That said, the setting out of detailed, scheduled targets with regular progress reports is a welcome development.
Ireland’s political system and its bureaucrats suffer from chronic “implementation deficit disorder”. Item-by-item measures can only bring pressure to bear on all concerned to get things done.