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Use the “Previous” and “Next” links above to browse through the sections of the action plan.

This section offers a high level summary of the ideas and indicates whether they are actions for Government, groups (business, community, voluntary) or individual businesses, entrepreneurs and citizens.  See section 6 for more details on each.

Active Citizenship

1. Create a new Volunteer Corps to engage the unemployed in community and voluntary work in Ireland and internationally, without losing their unemployment benefits

Idea for Government, groups and individuals

2. Build capacity and awareness in community and voluntary groups to enable them to ‘employ’ volunteers effectively

Idea for groups

3. Make more efficient use of school capital stock as a community resource, for example using buildings out of class/term time for adult education, after-school childcare etc.

Idea for Government and groups

Government Finances

4. Enable communities to replace rented prefabricated school buildings with permanent structures at no net cost to the State by raising community/private funds

Idea for Government and Groups

5. Offer a discount for taxation paid in advance by companies and individuals to provide the government with revenue in advance and at a lower rate than the cost of borrowing

Idea for Government

6. Create a cyber budget website to allow companies and individuals to suggest a budget to the government and see potential outcomes such as that in place in France

Idea for groups and individuals

7. Examine feasibility of introducing national recovery bonds

(A version of this idea was implemented in the Budget on 7 April 2009)

Idea for Government

8.  Ensure that there is not an automatic ‘use it or lose it’ approach to public funding. Allow those in receipt to rollover unspent funds to the following year’s budget to facilitate medium-term planning and savings

Idea for Government

9. Review integrated initiatives to derive maximum value from the public sector property portfolio through utilising vacant space, purchasing rather than renting etc.

Idea for Government

10. Facilitate individuals’ access to part of paid-up pensions without incurring a tax penalty to allow them to meet short-term financial commitments

Idea for Government

Stimulating Enterprise and Employment

11. Extend all planning permission which has expired in the last four years if completed in the next 24 months, unless there are valid planning reasons, to stimulate the construction industry

Idea for Government

12. Make changes to job seekers’ allowance to incentivise placement of graduates

(A version of this idea was implemented in the Budget on 7 April 2009)

Idea for Government

13.  Expand two-way mentoring schemes across industry and within communities to facilitate sharing of skills, ideas and expertise

Idea for groups and individuals

14.  Create an online Dragon’s Den site for Irish entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas and attract investment from around the world

Idea for groups and individuals

15.  Adopt microfinance operations for the provision of credit to small enterprises in low income areas

Idea for groups and individuals

16.  Provide a one-stop-shop virtual helpdesk for start-ups with advice on legal, HR, patents, accountancy issues etc.

Idea for groups and individuals

17.  Consider feasibility of a lending/borrowing online matching scheme to facilitate access to credit such as exists in US and UK

Idea for individuals

18.  Create a comprehensive online forum for SMEs to band together to increase their buying power and their negotiating position with suppliers

Idea for groups and individuals

19.  Encourage large firms to introduce agreed credit terms specifically for SMEs

Idea for groups and individuals

Developing the Knowledge Economy

20.   Develop a coherent ‘Ireland’ brand for education in order to draw more international students to our third-level institutions

Idea for Government

21.  Provide for earlier entitlement for unemployed to access education schemes

(A version of this idea was implemented in the Budget on 7 April 2009)

Idea for Government

22.  Establish a network of test bed facilities linked with universities and institutes of technology where unemployed engineers and scientists could prototype and develop technology-based ideas with possible business potential

Idea for Government

23.  Give priority to IT education (as an exam subject) and IT in education (online learning resources)

Idea for Government

24.  Teach business skills as part of all PhD education as a means of promoting the knowledge economy

Idea for Government

25.  Consider the merits of further prioritising Maths and Science at second level by awarding extra CAO points in these subjects

Idea for Government

26.  Increase further education and training opportunities for the unemployed including through eLearning and blended learning

Idea for Government and groups

Promoting Arts, Sport and Cultural Activities

27.  Make exercise space and outdoor equipment for old and young people available to facilitate healthy living and social interaction in communities all around the country

Idea for Government and groups

28.  Establish a county-by-county project to record the stories and voices of Ireland’s elderly which could then be brought together on an all-Ireland basis and marketed to the Irish diaspora

Idea for groups

29.  Establish ticket booths in city centres selling discount tickets for that day’s events in order to increase the visibility and accessibility of Ireland’s cultural life

Idea for groups

Encouraging Green Initiatives

30.  Evaluate the feasibility of creating a National Allotments Scheme run by local authorities or others in conjunction with landowners

Idea for Government and individuals

31.  Increase measures to promote a ‘Green Island’ integrated brand for Ireland.  Position Ireland as a green food island producing premium, natural foods

Idea for Government and groups

32.  Consider feasibility of specialised green text alerts from Met Éireann to facilitate pre-emptive changes to heating levels in homes and offices to improve energy efficiency

Idea for individuals

Boosting Tourism

33.  Consider innovative ways to stimulate tourism revenues, for example:

• Boost genealogy tourism by promoting the National Archives and organising clan gatherings
• Launch a campaign to attach the Discover Ireland weblink to the foot of emails originating in Ireland
• Develop cycle tracks and cycle lanes, for example open up disused railway tracks for this purpose
• Hold a Modern World Fleadh to showcase Irish culture and attract tourists
• Promote Dublin as a romance destination as it holds the relics of St. Valentine

Idea for groups and individuals

34.  Establish a three-month pilot of free off-peak travel for tourists to reduce the cost of holidaying in Ireland and attract more visitors

Idea for Government

35.  Encourage schools to organise transition year trips within Ireland to assist tourism

Idea for groups and individuals

Public Sector Reform

36.  Explore the potential impact of providing greater flexibility for small scale public sector procurement to reduce costs and increase access to public contracts by SMEs

Idea for Government

37. Encourage voluntary early retirement in the public sector

(A version of this idea was implemented in the Budget on 7 April 2009)

Idea for Government

38. Facilitate career breaks and shorter working week in public sector

(A version of this idea was implemented in the Budget on 7 April 2009)

Idea for Government

39.  Launch an internal public service campaign to encourage employees to identify ways of creating efficiencies and saving money

Idea for Government

40.  Create greater economies of scale in public sector IT through cloud computing, rationalisation, hardware and software purchasing etc.

Idea for Government

41.  Examine the feasibility of introducing an integrated system to increase efficiency for the collection of fines by the government

Idea for Government

Improving Healthcare

42.  Explore potential to recycle medical equipment, for example crutches, stair lifts etc., to create savings in the HSE

Idea for Government

43.  Take measures to facilitate the use of lower-cost generic drugs, for example by pre-printing ‘or generic equivalent’ on all prescriptions, or through other initiatives

Idea for Government

44.  Enable mobile phones to register owners as organ donors so that the information can be accessed instantly in the case of an accident

Idea for Individuals

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