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Thinkpieces Thinkpieces

May 2012

The Programme for Government a new departure or a false dawn for social enterprise?

By Gerard Doyle and

by Nigel Ryan Tanya Lalor

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The views expressed in TASC Thinkpieces are those of the authors.

Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

The Programme for Government – a new departure or a false dawn for social enterprise?

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By Gerard Doyle & Tanya Lalor

1. Introduction The Programme for Government states that ‘The Government will promote the development of a vibrant and effective social enterprise sector.’1 This commitment is timely.

According to the European Commission, social enterprises account for an estimated 2 million enterprises (i.e. 10 per cent of all European businesses) and employ over 11 million workers (the equivalent of 6 per cent of the working population of the EU).

Social enterprises are present in almost every sector of the economy across Europe banking, insurance, agriculture, craft, health and social services amongst others. In economic terms, they can give valuable support to the Irish economy on its road to recovery in a number of ways. Not only can they reduce and prevent long-term unemployment, they can provide training and re-skilling, and they can provide important services in marginalised communities where the public and private sector do not have the capacity or the commercial interest to operate. The benefits to the State are obvious - social enterprises can reduce State expenditure on social welfare payments and can provide services in a cost effective way.

In this paper, the concept and characteristics of ‘social enterprise’ is outlined and its potential in key sectors is described within the context of stated objectives contained within the Programme for Government.

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Programme for Government, p. 13

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

2. What is a ‘social enterprise’?

A social enterprise is a business which is engaged in trading activity in order to achieve social objectives, such as providing employment, services or creating income for community benefit. Social enterprises operate within independent, democratic organisations. They typically share the following features: 

They engage in traded activity, in providing services such as childcare, security, training, food services. In this respect, they are unlike traditional community and voluntary organisations which are either engaged in advocacy or charity.

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Autonomy: they are formed by groups of citizens who then govern them. State agencies or private companies do not have any direct or indirect control over how social enterprises are run.

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Community initiative: they are typically formed in response to an unmet community need, and are formed by groups rather than individuals

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Democratic decision-making: the organisational decision-making processes are based on ‘one member one vote’ rather than based on shareholding.

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Participatory character: the users of social enterprise services and groups whose needs they are formed to meet are represented and participate at all levels of decision-making structures.

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Limited distribution of profit: some social enterprises do not distribute any of the profits to their members, while others, most notably cooperatives, distribute a limited amount of profits. This ensures that the primary aim of responding to community need is prioritised.

Social enterprise activity follows a tradition of co-operative development and a ‘self-help’ approach of economic regeneration and meeting needs. The Credit Union movement and the agricultural co-op sector all bear witness to an historic social enterprise style approach in the country. Few would argue the contribution in economic and social terms that these movements have had in rural and urban Ireland. In recent years, an emphasis has been placed on how a ‘new’ social enterprise sector can regenerate communities experiencing disadvantage. Recent research on the sector estimated that social enterprises in

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

disadvantaged areas to be worth €240 million in revenue, to employ over 9,300 people directly, and support a further 5,100 indirectly.2 Social enterprises are present in most communities in Ireland and include such services as community childcare projects, rural transport services, energy efficiency, recycling and insulation companies, community cafés, and training projects.

However, social enterprises have developed in spite of, rather than because of, State support. Currently the State provides very limited financial support to the development of social enterprises. This contrasts with mainstream enterprise, and according to the Social Enterprise Task Force support for private sector enterprise includes over 28 tax breaks, and a budget over €2billion.3 Most of these enterprise supports are not available to social enterprise and there is no clear policy framework or strategy for the development of the sector. In this paper it is argued that social enterprise could have a significant role in the renewal of the Irish economy if the State supports the development of the sector. This need not have budgetary implications and each of the proposals for support made in this paper should be cost neutral.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN EUROPE

Since the late 1980s, the European Commission has acknowledged the importance of social enterprises, particularly as a way of meeting new needs and delivering public services. In 1995, the Commission identified 22 new areas4 with potential for social enterprise activity and estimated that 3 million new jobs could be created by the sector.5 The 22 new areas included home services and child care, ICT, housing improvements, security, redevelopment of public urban areas, tourism, waste and water management, craft and food sector activities, training and employment, community-based workplace provision, energy saving, amongst others. European Union employment policy and the integrated strategy that followed the EU Summit in 1997 identified a specific role for social enterprises.

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Clarke, A. And Eustace, A. (2009): Exploring Social Enterprise in nine areas in Ireland. Research undertaken on behalf of PLANET. 3 The Social Enterprise Task Force (2010): ‘Adding Value, Delivering Change: the role of social enterprise in national recovery.’ (p. 7) 4 EU Commission (1995): Local development and employment initiatives 5 EU White Paper – Growth, Competitiveness & Employment. 1993

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

Currently, the Commission has stated that it ‘wants to contribute to the creation of a favourable environment for the development of social business in Europe, and of the social economy at large.’6 To this end, it is drafting a Communication, due for adoption in October 2011, which will set out a number of initiatives to be implemented or discussed with regard to this objective.

REGIONAL SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

There can be an assumption that social enterprises are small scale. However, recent research has highlighted the potential for communities collaborating to form large-scale social enterprises that could provide products or services on a regional basis.7 Regional and large scale social enterprises could serve two functions: first, they could provide an independent source of funding for communities to improve their quality of life, and second, they could also demonstrate to Irish society the potential of an alternative way of engaging in significant economic activity that meets needs and promotes democratic working environments.

Regional or large scale social enterprises could be in the areas of tourism business and renewable energy.

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http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/social_business/index_en.htm Doyle, Gerard (2009): What difference does it make: the Current and Potential Contribution of Social Enterprise to the Regeneration of Urban Disadvantaged Communities in the Republic of Ireland. Available online: http://www.tsa.ie/assets/Uploads/What-difference-does-it-make.pdf 7

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

3. Social enterprise and the Programme for Government The Programme for Government outlines the government’s priorities and commitments during its term in office. The role and potential of social enterprise in meeting these commitments is outlined in this section.

EMPLOYMENT

The Programme for Government places job creation at its heart: ‘The big challenge for Ireland is to develop a strategy that will allow job growth and sustainable enterprise. Job creation is central to any recovery strategy.’

Programme for Government, p. 6 As Ireland faces into a renewed threat of long term unemployment, social enterprises can and do - provide access to the labour market for the long-term unemployed or those at risk of permanent exclusion from the labour market.

It is important to note that while social enterprises can play a significant role in this regard, the sectors development should not be an interim measure to enable people to access the ‘mainstream’ labour market. Social enterprises are themselves part of the economic landscape and should be regarded as such. However, the primary supports for social enterprises in Ireland to date have been about supporting government active labour market policies and programmes, such as Community Employment, the Jobs Initiative and the National Social Economy Programme.

Galway Traveller Movement’s Traveller Economic Development Unit (TEDU).

TEDU is an initiative of Galway Traveller Movement which is creating employment and social enterprise opportunities for Travellers in Galway. Between 2006 and 2011, GTM staff and Galway Travellers have worked with advisors to research and develop a sustainable model and structure which will create opportunities for Travellers in Galway to set up and work in enterprises, including social enterprises. So far, TEDU has established two social enterprises to carry out home insulation and recycling work – First Class Insulation and Galway Recycling Co-op. TEDU has also provided training to Traveller men and women in social enterprise development and is currently undertaking research and feasibility analysis on three new social enterprises.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

URBAN REGENERATION

The Programme for Government acknowledges the role of social enterprise in regenerating local economies: ‘we will instruct agencies to view social enterprises as important stakeholders in rejuvenating local economies’ Programme for Government, p. 13 .

Social enterprises can play a significant role in urban regeneration for a number of reasons.

In the first instance, they are rooted in their communities and have a clear knowledge of their needs and how these needs should be met. Second, social enterprises normally target for employment those most distanced from the labour market (such as ex-prisoners, drug users and people with low formal education).

Third, they contribute to skills development in such areas as financial and asset management, as well as enterprise development. If these skills are applied strategically, social enterprises can generate a surplus income for investment in social programmes or establishing other social enterprises.

The benefits of this approach can also be experienced by the State because social enterprises can efficiently provide services not provided by either the state or the private sector.

With adequate support social enterprises could successfully engage in the following range of activities: 

Providing services to local authorities in housing estates, including maintenance of communal areas and security.

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Renewable energy (this is discussed below)

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Re-use and recycling

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Tourism and culture

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The re-development of brownfield, obsolete buildings and ghost estates

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Care services

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Replace the failed public/private partnership model of regeneration of local authority estates.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

Northside Community Enterprises - responding to community needs Northside Community Enterprises (NCE), located on Cork’s Northside, provides a range of affordable services to the local community, including a crèche, a café, gym, a laundry, a clothes alteration service and home improvement for the elderly.

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Northside Community Enterprises provides employment for 300 individuals in an area where unemployment is far higher than the national average. In addition, it gives employment and training to long- term unemployed individuals and people who would find it difficult to hold down a job in the private sector. The supervisors spend a lot of time assisting new workers to acquire new skills and to deal with difficulties associated with being out of work for a long time. As a result, over the past 17 years, Northside Community Enterprises has enabled many people to get new skills and confidence to progress onto full-time education, secure sustainable employment and become community leaders within their own neighbourhoods.

NCE shows how a social enterprise can successfully diversify into providing a range of enterprises that provide quality services.

Coin Street Community Builders – social enterprise led urban regeneration initiatives Aside from the regeneration of Fatima Mansions, the Public Private Partnership model of urban regeneration failed working class communities in Dublin.

In the UK, social enterprises are leading the sustainable regeneration of urban disadvantaged communities.

One case in point is Coin Street Community Builders, a social enterprise in the South Bank area of London. It has acquired finance and property and is providing social and affordable housing, leisure and recreational amenities, as well as employment opportunities for the local community. The property and other assets are community-owned and the income generated from them is used to develop and support community services and facilities. Achieving this was not easy. Coin Street Community Builders campaigned hard for community-led regeneration because the prevailing policy favoured a private developer-led approach.

This approach is participatory democracy in action but is also provides wider benefits. It demonstrates that residents, acting collectively, can have a real influence over the development of the local economy and the physical environment. Moreover, the delivery of local services by local people contributes to them taking greater ownership of the upkeep of their estates. Jobs are kept within a local area, and in turn this can provide the impetus for additional economy activity, in the form of new social enterprises or inward investment.

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www.nce.ie

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

The risk of neighbourhood urban decay can therefore be significantly reduced and the need for the State to repeatedly invest in capital regeneration programmes is lessened.

Supports required Urban regeneration through social enterprise development requires policy change as well as commitment from central and local government. The following measures are proposed: 

The government should develop a social enterprise national strategy and should issue directives and guidelines for local government and authorities to engage with the sector around regeneration and service delivery.

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The proposed government loan guarantee finance for SMEs should be broadened to include social enterprises, thereby enhancing their access to loan finance.

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County and City Enterprise boards should be instructed to include social enterprises within the eligibility criteria of their existing programmes and supports.

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The allocation of obsolete buildings which are under the remit of NAMA for social enterprise development.

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Integrated Development Companies and urban partnership companies9 should allocate a portion of their existing funding to promote social enterprise development in their catchment area.

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Underpinning all of these measures is the necessity for policy makers to accept that social enterprise is a valid mechanism to promote economic activity and generate wealth.

THE GREEN ECONOMY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

It has been estimated that green enterprise could account for 80,000 jobs in Ireland, or 4 per cent of total employment, by 2020.10 The Programme for Government includes a government commitment to

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Urban Area-based Partnerships (UAPs) and Integrated Local Development Companies (ILDC’s) are funded under the Local and Community Development Programme, which is administered by Pobal on behalf of the Department of Environment, Community and Rural Affairs.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

’facilitate the development of energy co-operatives to make it easier for small-scale renewable energy providers to contribute to our renewables target’ Programme for Government, p. 13 Social enterprise has the potential to contribute to the achievement of green economy objectives11 as well as to benefit from the business opportunities that the sector presents.

Many social enterprises already have environmental concerns as part of their social values, and are therefore well-placed to add value to environmental and green economy objectives.

In addition, some green economy initiatives are not currently commercially viable and therefore not attractive to the private sector but could be sustainable social enterprises with a combination of subsidised labour and grant income.

The green economy spans renewable energy, reuse and recycling activities and also includes energy efficiency enterprises. These are discussed separately in this section Energy efficiency Energy efficient buildings can reduce the demand for heat energy and thereby enable Ireland to attain its target of achieving 16% of its overall energy from renewable sources.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) operates a ‘warmer homes’ scheme which aims to to improve the energy efficiency and comfort conditions of homes occupied by lowincome households. It does this by insulating these homes and by providing information, thereby enabling reductions in fuel consumption and also tackling fuel poverty.12 The scheme itself came about arising from the pioneering work of social enterprises in insulation the homes of low income households during the 1990s. It is delivered throughout the country by ‘Community Based Organisations’, which are social enterprises. One such organisation is ‘First Class Insulation’, which has been developed by Galway Traveller Movement, and is included in the case study above.

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According to ‘Developing the Green Economy’, The report of the High Level Action Group on Green Enterprise, November 2009 11 Which includes movement away from fossil fuel-based energy production through investment in renewable energy and to promote the green enterprise sector, and the creation of ‘green collar’ jobs.

12 Fuel poverty has been defined as the inability to heat ones home to an adequate (i.e. safe and comfortable) level owing to low household income and poor, energy inefficient housing and also the need to spend greater than 10% of household income on fuel to achieve an acceptable level of comfort and amenity.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

The Government and SEAI must continue to contract the CBOs to continue to retrofit homes. These social enterprises have gained significant expertise and their work should be extended to include public buildings as well as a wider range of homes, as mentioned in the Programme for Government. An Bord Gais and ESB Electric Ireland should engage CBOs to retrofit homes in any future home insulation programmes that they develop.

Waste management and recycling A number of social enterprises already engaged in recycling are providing employment and training opportunities in areas of high unemployment. However, with more support from local authorities, integrated local development companies and urban partnership companies, they could be more widespread throughout the country and could diversify into a broader range of waste streams. In so doing, the numbers of unemployed individuals gaining work experience would be significantly increased.

With regard to anaerobic digestion13 (AD), there are some small scale projects in operation throughout the country, and more communities with an interest in developing AD. There needs to be dialogue between a number of Government departments to enable communities to develop social enterprises and community cooperatives that can generate heat and gain an income from selling electricity to the national grid.

When communities are supported to have a stake in the development renewable energy projects then the likelihood of Ireland attaining the EU targets for using renewable energy will be enhanced.

Supports Canada, Denmark, Sweden and Germany all have adopted a supportive policy context for social enterprise development in these sectors. Ireland can and should follow suit- all that is required is commitment, innovative policy making, and strong leadership at local authority level.

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Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen, used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to release energy.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

Some steps that could be taken to support this include: 

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government should jointly develop a strategy to support social enterprises to play a role in developing renewable projects across the country.

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This strategy would see Integrated Development Companies in their respective areas drawing together stakeholders including community organisations, local authorities, and existing social enterprises to develop area action plans for social enterprise engagement in the renewable energy sector.

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Local renewable primer funds should be established to support capital funding requirements of social enterprises. These could draw on a combination of finance from the recently announced Government loan guarantee fund, grant funding from philanthropic foundations, and finance from social finance providers.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

Ireland has an ageing population. In the past, care for elderly people was seen as largely the responsibility of the extended family. However this is no longer the norm, and increasing numbers of individuals are moving into residential care settings. However, with proper supports, more older people could be supported to live in their homes and continue to be active within their communities. Social enterprises and worker cooperatives could play a lead role in community-based care for the elderly.

Roscommon home services Established in 1996, Roscommon Home Services is a social enterprise which specialises in providing practical and personal care to elderly and incapacitated clients in their home. The service is available on a full-time, part-time or respite basis. The service employs 300 carers who provide the service in the counties of Roscommon, Mayo and Galway.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

In the UK, it is estimated that there are more than 6,000 social enterprises delivering health and social care services within the national health system14 and these provide day and residential care services for disadvantaged adults and children as well as older people.15 Supports In order to facilitate social enterprise activity in this important area, the following should happen:

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The Department of Health and Children should direct the HSE to collaborate with Integrated Development Companies and urban partnership companies in order to support community organisations to form social enterprises that could tender for contracts to provide community based care.

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Integrated development companies and urban partnership companies should use some of their resources to assist in the formation of these social enterprises and cooperatives.

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A portion of existing training budgets should be used to assist the social enterprises to gain the requisite expertise and to develop robust governance and accountability structures.

Social Enterprise Coalition (2009): State of Social Enterprise Survey.

For example, Sandwell Community Caring Trust. See: Social Enterprise Coalition (2009): Op Cit

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

COOPERATIVES

The Programme for Government is clear in its commitment to supporting co-operatives: ‘We will work to promote a greater appreciation of the co-operative model as a distinct form of organisation, ensure a level playing field between co-operatives and the other legal options for structuring enterprise activities, and provide a conductive framework for the full potential of the co-operative model to be realised, including in areas such as childcare, education, housing, energy retrofitting, environmental protection, transport and healthcare’.

Programme for Government, p. 11 The International Co-operative Alliance defines co-operatives as autonomous association(s) of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

Co-operatives are a significant force in business: worldwide, over 800 million people are members of co-operatives, which employ over 100 million people, and in the EU alone, an estimated 300,000 co-operatives employ almost five million people. In Ireland, cooperatives include worker coops, producer coops (for example, the agricultural coops), community coops and credit unions16. A 2007 Forfás study17 reported that there were approximately 1,040 co-operatives registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies18 and in 2005, co-operatives had an estimated €3.8 billion in income; 270,000 members; and the largest 83 co-operatives and the companies that they held shares in had nearly 38,000 employees.

However, cooperatives do not access the same level of support as mainstream enterprises, and the EU Commission has concluded that co-operatives do not operate with on a level playing field with others. It is also the view of Forfás that the potential of co-operatives in Ireland, most notably worker cooperatives, has not yet been fully realised and the agency attributes this to a lack of visibility and understanding of the sector. At present there is no support programme for worker coops since the closure of the Co-operative Development

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Credit unions operate under a separate legislative and regulatory framework to coops.

Forfás (2007): Ireland's Co-operative Sector. Dublin: Forfás Excluding credit unions.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

Unit in FAS, over one decade ago. Enterprise agencies should be instructed to engage with co-ops in the same way as other enterprises.

PROCUREMENT AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Public procurement19 policy and its role in economic development cannot be understated: the annual procurement budget of the Irish public sector is of the order of €15 billion,20 and across Europe, public authorities’ expenditure accounts for approximately 16% of GDP.21 However, it is acknowledged that engagement in the procurement process can be difficult for small and medium enterprises. The Programme for Government acknowledges these problems with current procurement policy: ‘We will reform public procurement to become a tool to support innovative Irish firms and to allow greater access to Irish small and medium sized businesses’.

Programme for Government, p. 10.

Social enterprises too have difficulties in engaging with public procurement opportunities.

Pro-active policies in relation to social public procurement could potentially leverage government purchasing power to ensure that social and community benefits are derived from public spending. And social enterprises would be well placed to ensure social outcomes arise from the procurement process.

The legal basis for public procurement in the European Union is provided by the Procurement Directives,22 and these offer scope for taking account of social considerations in procurement, on conditions that they do not undermine Treaty principles.23 One of the most straightforward way in which this can be achieved is through contract conditions.

Specifically, the Procurement Directive provides that:

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The acquisition of goods and services by the State Source: Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.

21 Commission Staff Working Document: Buying green! A handbook on environmental public procurement. Brussels, 18.8.2004. SEC(2004) 1050 22 Directives 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC 23 The principles here include: Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality or locality; transparency of award procedures and related decisions; equal treatment of those wishing to be awarded a contract; proportionality; and free movement of goods, services and workers.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

‘contracting authorities may lay down special conditions relating to the performance of a contract, provided that they are compatible with Community law and are indicated in the contract notice or in the specifications. The conditions governing the performance of a contract may, in particular, concern social or environmental considerations.’24 The parallels with environmental considerations are pertinent - the role of ‘Green Public Procurement’ has been widely acknowledged at EU and national level. According to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, “if buyers in the public sector consistently took environmental factors into account in their procurement decisions, it would provide huge leverage to ‘move the market’ towards providing environmentally superior goods, services and works in a cost-effective way...It would also boost Ireland’s competitiveness and job-creation by fostering eco-innovation among SMEs and the wider business community.”25 The Department has recently drafted Ireland’s National Action Plan on Green Public Procurement.26 However, in spite of the parallels, there has been no examination of the potential for social procurement in Ireland, as there has been in other countries. For example, in the UK, the National Procurement Strategy for Local Authorities in the UK has included social procurement provisions and guidelines to public bodies for social procurement have been published in Northern Ireland.27 Local authorities in France and Italy have included social conditions in their procurement policies for over a decade.

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Directive 2004/18 Art. 26; Directive 2004/17 Art. 38 http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/SustainableDevelopment/GreenPublicProcurement/ Accessed 12 October 2011.

26 Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (2011): Draft National Action Plan on Green Public Procurement (for Public Consultation). Available online: http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/SustainableDevelopment/PublicationsDocuments/FileDownLoad,26439,en.pdf 27 For example, Invest Strategy Northern Ireland (2010): Delivering social benefits through public procurement: A Toolkit.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

Developments at European level At European level, it is acknowledged that procurement policy may need to go further in promoting social policies. In its recent green paper on modernising procurement policy, the European Commission states that28: Given the key role of public procurement in coping with today’s challenges, the existing tools and methods should be modernised in order to make them better suited to deal with the evolving political, social and economic context (p. 4).

The same paper makes the point that ‘another complementary objective is to allow procurers to make better use of public procurement in support of common societal goals: These include protection of the environment...and combating climate change, promoting innovation and social inclusion’. (p. 5) In its recent Single Market Act communication, the Commission proposes ‘twelve levers to boost growth and strengthen confidence’ across the EU and one of these is ‘Revised and modernised public procurement legislative framework, with a view to underpinning a balanced policy which fosters demand for environmentally sustainable, socially responsible and innovative goods, services and works’. (p. 19)29 The Commission is scheduled to make legislative proposals for amending procurement rules in 2012, and the thinking is that procurement policies should reflect other EU policies: social, economic and environmental.

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The European Commission (2011): ‘Green paper on the modernisation of EU public procurement policy: Towards a more efficient European Procurement Market’. COM (2011) 15 final. Brussels, 27.1.2011 29 The European Commission (2011): ‘Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Single Market Act Twelve levers to boost growth and strengthen confidence: "Working together to create new growth".

Brussels, 13.4.2011 COM(2011) 206 final

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

Lessons for Ireland There are clear lessons here for Ireland - in the current economic crisis, the procurement process should ensure social and economic outcomes for Ireland, thereby adding value to Government expenditure. The National Procurement Service within the Office of Public Works should develop a policy and a strategy on social procurement in line with many other European countries. Guidelines and requirements should be issued to local authorities (and other relevant state bodies) for incorporating social procurement in their activities.

4. The role of the State The Government’s commitment to social enterprise is welcomed. The Government must now implement a series of measures at national and local level to support the sector. In doing so, the proposals in this paper should be considered. These proposals are: National and legislative 

The government should develop a national social enterprise strategy and should issue directives and guidelines for local government and authorities to engage with the sector around regeneration and service delivery.

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The Government should request state agencies to plan for how they will support social enterprise development. This should be monitored and audited by the State.

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A staff member in each Government Department should be provided with a remit to support and champion social enterprise within their own department.

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Central Government should enact legalisation that would facilitate the formation of structures similar to ‘Community Interest Companies’ in the UK.30

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A community interest company (CIC) is a new type of company introduced by the United Kingdom government in 2005 under the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004, designed for social enterprises that want to use their profits and assets for the public good. CICs are intended to be easy to set up, with all the flexibility and certainty of the company form, but with some special features to ensure they are working for the benefit of the community.

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Gerard Doyle and Tanya Lalor | The Programme for Government and Social Enterprise

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The National Procurement Service within the Office of Public Works should develop a policy and strategy on social procurement in line with many other European countries. There should be a requirement for local authorities and other relevant state organisations to develop a social procurement action plan. Guidelines and training to such agencies should be provided by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government and the National Procurement Service.

Training 

The Government should ensure that state agency officials receive training on social enterprise approaches.

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Training budgets within state training and development agencies should include provision for social enterprises to gain the requisite expertise and develop robust governance and accountability structures.

General supports and finance 

County and City Enterprise boards should be instructed to include social enterprises (including cooperatives) within the eligibility criteria of their existing programmes and supports.

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Integrated Development Companies and urban partnership companies should allocate a portion of their existing funding to promote social enterprise development in their catchment area

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A portion of the Department of Social Protection’s ‘Activation’ budget should be used to support social enterprises that employ those most distanced from the labour market (such as Travellers, older workers, former drug users, and those long-term unemployed).

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Provision should be made for some obsolete buildings which are under the remit of NAMA to be transferred to social enterprises, for the purposed of social benefit (and thereby contributing to NAMA providing a social dividend).

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The proposed government loan guarantee finance for SMEs should be broadened to include social enterprises.

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The Department of Jobs, Innovation and Enterprise should establish a social enterprise innovation fund the expansion of social enterprises.

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Some finance from the proposed Government’s loan guarantee scheme should be ring-fenced for social enterprises in specific sectors. This could include ‘green economy’ sectoral activity as well as social enterprises employing target groups.

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The government should consider establishing a ‘challenge fund’ for philanthropic organisations to match Government loan guarantee finance, and to contribute to a seed capital fund which would be targeted at social enterprises.

Sector specific 

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government should jointly develop a strategy to support social enterprises to develop renewable projects across the country.

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Integrated Development Companies and urban partnership companies should engage with key stakeholders including community organisations, the local authority, and existing social enterprises to develop an area action plan which would clearly outline how social enterprise could be a mechanism to engage in renewable energy and the green economy.

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Local and regional renewable energy primer funds should be established to support capital funding requirements of social enterprises. These could draw on a combination of finance from the proposed Government loan guarantee fund, grant funding from philanthropic foundations, and finance from social finance providers.

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The Department of Health and Children should direct the HSE to collaborate with Integrated Development Companies in order to support community organisations to form social enterprises that could provide community based care.

5. Conclusion This paper has outlined a number of measures for supporting the development and expansion of social enterprises in Ireland. These social enterprises have the capacity to contribute to a range of social and economic objectives that have been outlined in the Programme for Government. Supports outlined in this paper should be revenue neutral and would add significant value to current expenditure. However, underpinning all of these measures is the necessity for policy makers to accept that social enterprise is a valid mechanism to promote economic activity and generate wealth.

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