The Ideas Campaign - sample of ideas received since campaign launch
Here is a selection of the ideas that have been pouring into the Ideas Campaign website. Please note that some have been edited, for space or clarity, for publication here. An idea’s inclusion on the website does not indicate it will be included in our final action plan for the Government.
Agriculture and food
People in Ireland often go on a wine-makers’ trail as part of a holiday abroad. Experiencing the wines of an area, meeting the grape producers, perhaps staying on the vineyard, and buying some wine to bring home are all wonderful experiences. They profit the winemakers immediately, and in the longer term, if they export their wines to Ireland. Ireland does not grow grapes, but there is a network of apple growers spread around Ireland, and as is evident from a reading of the Brehon laws, cider has been made here for 3,000 years.
My idea is that the regulatory framework which currently does not realistically permit the small-scale making of cider on farms could be amended to allow this. Farmers with little orchards could produce a few thousand litres of cider annually, just like happens in Somerset, Devon, and other parts of England. (Up to last year the cider duty regulations permitted farmers to make cider “on occasion” without a license, though nobody did it because the legal situation was unclear). We could market holidays based around a series of visits to farmhouse cideries that would bring tourists around Ireland, perhaps extending their length of stay in Ireland, as well as attracting new visitors. Ireland is famous for its hospitality, drink, and food. What a wonderful combination these would make.
Construction
Hundreds of ghost estates lie empty, especially in the midlands. They could be turned into private but affordable retirement communities. We are an ageing population and elderly care is way too expensive. Retirement communities, serviced by their own shop, medical centre, pharmacist etc., would be a good way to utilise the ghost estates, create construction jobs, health jobs, retail jobs etc. and give our ageing population more affordable dignity in their final days.
Culture
Use empty retail and business units to provide workspace for artists, students, colleges where they can develop and create work. These locations can be open to the public and provide an opportunity to create a vibracy in areas which are suffering due to closure or no take up on retail or office space. There could be Friends type refreshment area run on a co-op basis and these could also be utilised by catering students allowing them to gain valuable work experience. We need to give our young people in particular hope that there will be an employment future for them here.
Culture
Learning the Irish Language on a local level (e.g Gaeltachts). I think that many Irish Adults especially those with time on their hands would take the opportunity to learn the language. In the same way that Des Bishop learned the language - by total immersion in the Gaeltacht. This would be a good income stream for B&Bs , private households in rural Gaeltacht areas of Ireland. It could also offer employment opportunities for unqualified/qualified teachers in these areas. This type of industry is quite prevalent in Latin America where people wish to learn Spanish quickly and in a total immersion environment.
Education
There are millions of unused square footage in new business parks all around Ireland which could be purchased vey cheaply and converted to schoolroom space very quickly.
Innovation
I have been all over the world but particularly Asia. One of the reasons that the Asian economies are more competitive than Ireland is that they have a different culture of business that we don’t quite understand. Having sat and chatted to these guys going back and forth in airplanes I have concluded the Asians have this idea that they must compete but also collaborate in equal measure, whatever suits the circumstances.
Maybe their religions, Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism, allow them to constantly seek to balance opposites, to find a harmony in contradictions or something like that. This is not a discussion about philosophy but there is something we can learn here. Anyway I think Irish business people are very capable of doing that, more so than our European partners for example, who are very much either pure collaborators or very much competitors and choose business models to suit these sorts of personalities.
* (This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons.)
Policy
Establish a new Irish Bank, “People’s Bank”, using Kiwibank as a template (www.kiwibank.co.nz) Basic values include:
- Sense of nationalism
- Simple, no-nonsense brand
- Retail and Commercial lending
- Prudent, long-term conservative lending criteria
- Regulating the space the bank can operate in
- Local presence, atached to the post-office
Fresh capital from the Govt with partial ownership. Eventually self-sustaining. The Credit Union would be the closest local example, however with central leadership, a broader range of products and shared infrastructure.
Policy
Drop the minimum wage to make employment more affordable and to bring rates in line with mimimum wage across the border and cut out penalty rates for restaurants & entertainment industry at weekends and evenings.
Policy
Use the Job-seeker’s Allowance to keep people faced with layoff in employment. Give the 200 or so Euro to the employer to subsidise the wages of the affected employees. This scheme would keep people at work and prevent the current huge haemorrhage of job losses (over 1,000 per day). It would also have the knock-on effect of keeping dependent businesses open. It would prevent the huge increasing loss of revenue to the Govt too. Such a scheme is in operation in Germany and is preventing the massive layoffs there such we are experiencing here. Anyway, the principle of giving money for doing nothing (the present jobseeker’s allowance scheme) is morally wrong, particularly in the present economic crisis.
Policy
My idea is the creation of an ‘Irish Patriot Bond’ to be administered by the NTMA. The bond is intended as a means to raise finance at a cheaper rate than currently available on international markets. It would draw on the good will of Irish people abroad and maybe domestically, who would be willing to invest money in Ireland’s future. This should not be a ‘begging bowl’ initiative. It should rather, guarantee a return on the amount invested when Ireland emerges from this prolonged economic downturn. I am conscious that mechanisms already exist for raising finance internationally.
However, Ireland’s current credit rating means we are paying above the odds. If the bond were to mature in five to ten years, this should be sufficient to let us emerge from the recession and guarantee a return for investors. Minimum investment EURO 5000 with no upper limit but pro-rata enhanced returns for larger amounts/longer maturity period. I live abroad and am willing as a proud Irishman to contribute/invest when Ireland needs it. I have asked other Irish friends and I know that with a bit of arm twisting they would too. All that is needed now is the means and mechanisms to permit us to act. Given the current low standing of our politicians, this initiative should be seen as one emerging from this ideas forum or the NTMA.
Services (international)
Large companies already established exporters, take smaller companies, new to exporting, under their wings and help them with advice on how to market their products and guide them through the red tape and introduce them to foreign buyers. Obviously they would not be expected to help direct competitors. The same could apply to companies trading within Ireland, helping start-up companies with advice on marketing and introducing them to potential buyers.
Services (local)
Bring back bartering! Create local websites where people can exchange services (fire wood for car servicing, for example). Everyone has something to offer and in these times of high unemployment it would be a handy way of procuring goods and services cheaply, efficiently and locally. Local Community Halls could be used once a week where unemployed tradesmen etc. can come to meet with locals who would like to avail of their services (paid or exchanged).
Social and voluntary
We produce a lot of graduates. Unfortunately there aren’t opportunities for them to develop their work experience skills. If they could be financed to use their skills in the developing world, this might be better than throwing money at projects foreign counteries. This would be win win for the individual - gaining experience e.g construction, engineering, health care etc, and after a few years - return with a lot of hard-won experience to the benefit of the developing country. Their salaries would go much further in a developing country than in this country. Of course they should be credited with PRSi etc as if they were employees of the Irish Government.
Technology
Retrofitting all street lights with LED type light assembly’s. Benefits:
- LED’s are far more efficient - they use less power and are brighter
- There are thousands of these lamps in the country which would equate to major energy savings and a drop of CO2 output for Ireland
- They last longer
- Manufacturing the lamps would create jobs, and lamps could be exported to different countries
- Safer roads and streets
Technology
In a bid to accelerate the development of the smart economy we need more technology transfer professionals. Millions upon millions have been spent on R&D within universities and institutes of technologies, yet the bulk of new knowledge sits on library shelves. We need to support researchers more so as they are incentivised to be more entrepreneurial in their outlook. Each institute of technology and university should have a dedicated and fully resourced Tech Transfer office to help the academic community articulate their discoveries into commercial opportunities.
Sport
The sports facilities of schools should be made available to local communities. It would encourage children and adults to take some exercise. A lot of schools have gymnasium that are locked up more often than they are used. It could be a nice little earner for the school as well as providing employment for sports trainers/care takers.
Technology
It rains a lot in Ireland (no kidding). Water will be scarce in the future. We could develop water conservation technologies. How to trap roof water. How to recycle domestic water. Water filters, water purifiers. How to control flooding. Develop technologies to protect building from water damage as an alternative to sand bags - levy construction, better river banks, technology to relieve water pressure to protect bridges.
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