The Ideas Campaign - latest sample of ideas received since campaign launch

Education

The Government should fund the education of Irish students at the best colleges in the world for the critical knowledge-based disciplines like engineering, design and science.

I have two friends who had to turn down the opportunity to study at Berkeley and MIT because of funding restrictions. The Government could fund these people’s education abroad on condition that they return to Ireland afterwards and help create knowledge-based enterprises.

Education

My company recently advertised a vacant position in the company. We were looking for an electronic engineer with fluent Italian. We only received two applications and both were from outside Ireland. This is probably not surprising since the vast majority of students in Ireland learn French, Spanish or German.

My idea is to promote languages more in schools, at both primary and secondary level. Many languages are similar so I don’t see a reason why schools cannot teach multiple languages to students during primary and secondary school as apposed to just one foreign language. Improved language skills would be a great advantage for Ireland in the globalised economy.

Education

We should encourage the recycling of corporate IT infrastructure into the educational system These days, the corporate world tends towards a three-year renewal cycle with IT infrastructure and most surplus IT equipment generally ends up in Africa or the Middle East for recycling and metals recovery.

My idea is that this hardware could be diverted into the educational system. This would result in schools having a much larger and wider base of hardware on which to gain experience.

Schools could also access a wider range of licenses for software, and - if you include the possibilities presented by various Open Source projects, such as OpenOffice, Linux, Eclipse, Moodle and so on - this becomes an even more cost effective proposition.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

Green business

My idea is a tax relief scheme for investment in renewable energy companies. This would stimulate huge investment in the sector, and create a large number of sustainable jobs

There is in the region of €300 billion on deposit in Ireland at present and tapping into some of these funds through a ‘Renewable Energy Tax Relief Scheme’ would kickstart this whole industry.

Green business

My idea is a slight modification on the proposal (in Ideas batch to remove all VAT on insulation products.

My amendment is that there should be a 24-month period for VAT reduction on insulation products followed by a rise in the VAT charged on household fuel. This would concentrate the minds of householders, and builders would be encouraged to insulate houses to give a better rating.

Green business

The problem most often associated with wind energy is that people think that the turbines are unsightly and residents, who do not benefit financially from wind farms, often object. A way to reduce objections and expedite planning would be to get the community involved.

My proposal involves offering shares in each wind farm or single turbine to people actually living in proximity to the turbine. A 1.5mw unit will generate enough electricity to power approximately 1,000 homes.

The cost of a unit of this size is €1.2 million. So in effect 1000 shares could be sold at €1,200 each. With some tweaking of the concept, community buildings could be provided with free electricity by donating shares to them at no cost.

People would continue to pay their bills each month but they would receive a buy-back cheque (dividend) from the syndicate on a regular basis. This money could be offset against their bill. This clean energy would reduce individual house-holders’ carbon footprint by way of their investment and would help Ireland to meet its international obligations.

Policy

My idea is that Ireland becomes as well known for competitive venture capital rates as it currently is for competitive Corporation Tax rates.

Let anyone, from any country, who is thinking of starting a high-tech business know that Ireland will, if her experts consider the business worthwhile according to the usual rules of venture capitalism, offer venture capital at a fraction of the typical rate.

The conditions would be that the new company would have to base its headquarters in Ireland (not punitive considering our tax rates) and would have to agree to employ a certain percentage of its workforce in this country as well.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

Retail

My idea is the launch of a ‘National Spend or Buy Day’ to get the nation spending again. A monthly ‘National Spend or Buy Day’ would help inject money into local economies and increase exchequer VAT returns.

People would be asked to buy something that they wouldn’t normally buy day to day or make a purchase they have been putting off.

The amount of money a person spends is totally at their discretion, so it could be €5 or €5000, whatever the person/family can afford.

It could be a meal out, an item of clothing, a treat for the kids etc - it doesn’t matter as long as additional money is spent in the economy on these days. Businesses could offer incentives such as discounts on products and services to ensure people are getting value for the amount of money they decide to spend.

Services (local)

A large proportion of drinking water abstracted and treated by local authorities leaks out through old and worn out piping systems. My idea is that we redirect resources away from building NEW water treatment works to repairing the existing systems.

The work is relatively labour intensive and will give the construction industry a boost. The longer term benefits will be to conserve scarce water resources, reduce the energy input in water production and, ultimately, help both the country and the planet.

Services (local)

There is an increasing amount of retail/commercial/services space under-used or becoming vacant in town centres and commercial areas all over Ireland.

In many cases, this space is owned by developers under stress or in administration by the financial institutions. In the same way that non-performing loans may be isolated in a toxic bank, could this property be administered by a ‘vacant property’ organisation?

My idea is that such property could be made available (on relatively short leases) to small service operations such as shoe repairers, furniture restorers, specialist printers, artists, craft food retailers, designers, dressmakers etc who currently cannot afford high street rents.

Local authorities would contribute by awarding rate free periods and insurance companies would offer reduced rates etc. The effect could be similar to the original Temple Bar where CIE offered short leases at nominal rents which then attracted a huge variety of creative activities and industries.

This approach would mean that towns and cities in Ireland would gain the creative and entrepreneurial mix Continental cities achieve through rent control/ public ownership and rigorous planning policies.

Sport

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) was initially established as an independent Irish organisation for promoting athletics. Croke Park’s design has provision for an athletics track around the perimeter of the stadium so it would be great if the GAA utilised this opportunity to attract international athletic events to the capital.

Technology

My idea is an easy win to save money on the public sector phone bill by using VOIP technologies such as Skype or JaJah. Calls between Skype users are completely free and calls to landlines are very cheap (especially internationally).

The Skype software is free to install and they have business packages that should be suitable for government offices. JaJah is an even simpler system and is just as cheap as Skype.

Technology

Technology based start-ups have a problem finding people with the right skills, even today. At the same time, a lot of talent is in many cases under-utilised in the public services, Government research bodies and academia.

In the current environment, moving from public service to a start-up environment may be perceived as excessively risky. My idea is a career break for high skilled public/semi-state employees. Here is how it might work. Start-ups can register an interest in certain types of personnel currently employed as public servants.

If a match is made, and current employers agree, the Government agrees to pay 50% of salary for two years and the start-up finances the other 50% from its own funds/equity.

At end of two years, the ‘career break’ candidate is given the option of returning to the public service. The benefits of this scheme would include:

• the start-up gets access to talent that is currently effectively unavailable
• the start-up gets a subsidy at a critical stage
• the Government achieves necessary cuts while developing an economically critical sector
• the scheme could be implemented quickly, informally and cheaply

Tourism

My idea is that we develop and promote Ireland as a destination for equestrian holidays. Bodies like Teagasc, the AIRC (Association of Irish Riding Clubs) and the Irish Horse Board should develop packs for farmers, riding clubs and tourism businesses so that individuals and businesses can “join the dots” to expand equestrian activity both for foreign tourists and for Irish riders.

I believe that equestrian enthusiasts from Europe and further afield would be prepared to pay quite a bit for access to the best riding country in Europe.

Tourism

My idea has to do with themed tourism. Next to the Isle of Man, Ireland (north and south) has the world’s best motorbike road-racing heritage, but this heritage exists in an almost underground way. There is very limited promotion of it, and therefore little related tourism.

Strong tourism is increasingly about unique and memorable experiences. Motorcycle-themed tourism is both unique and memorable and has the potential to build strong repeat tourism business.

My idea is to properly market our bike road-racing heritage and to turn the major road races into much bigger tourist attractions.

We need to help the clubs that run the events, help improve the circuits, develop TV rights, and work hard on safety With the right approach, we can market Ireland as the home of the most exciting, authentic motorsport in the world.

Tourism

The exhibition and conference sector could make a substantially larger contribution to our economy now that the conference venue in the Docklands is about to open along with a new Exhibition Centre at Citywest. Places like Birmingham and Harrogate in the UK have turned themselves into international exhibition hubs that generate millions for both the local and national economies.

We now have the infrastructure, particularly around the Dublin area, to host these big events. Research from a few years ago (www.big.ie) highlighted that the business tourist spends in the region of 70% more per day than the vacation tourist.

Having ’sampled’ Ireland, many business tourists could also return to Ireland in a tourist capacity bringing friends and family. All of this will create real jobs, real growth and a positive impact both direct and indirect to our economy and country.

Transport

Many airlines flying to/from the US cannot afford to purchase landing slots in Heathrow, so Shannon should offer free or minimal landing charges to encourage transatlantic airlines to use Shannon

The Ideas Campaign - the latest sample of ideas received since campaign launch

Agriculture and food

I suggest that Irish farm cooperatives should form partnerships with similar cooperatives in France to exchange and market each other’s products e.g. French cheese and wine, Irish lamb, dairy products etc.  This could involve just one cooperative in each country or a group of cooperatives.  Obviously, partner cooperatives would not have to be in France but could also be in another Member State (Italy, Spain, and Greece whose products would be less like those in Ireland).

Agriculture and food

Ireland is known for its hospitality, and its food.  Encourage Hotels/B&Bs etc to source ingredients locally (funded by re-directing subventions paid to farmers, and re-positioning tax breaks given to hotels).

Dual benefit - Farmers are paid to produce food that is actually being used (as opposed to butter mountains etc), hotels etc can sell the “Still made here”/”Healthy Food” angle.  Money is being spent locally, with economic multiplier effects, the importance of the tourist (both Irish & international) is reinforced through each community, government & European grant money is spent more effectively.

All island economy

My idea comes from France, where it has been used to great success in the last years:  Reduce the VAT rate down from 13.5% to 5.5% (supply and build) and from 21.5% to 10% (supply only) for all home improvements in houses that are more than 2 years old.

This would encourage home owners and landlords to do work such as new floors, new wallpaper, new kitchens or bathrooms, new extensions or attic conversion, new landscaping, new boiler, energy saving installations…    This would benefit a huge number of retailers, small builders, tradesmen and help retain many jobs.  It would also convert into more spending into other sectors by all those who benefit from this measure, and generally boost confidence and morale in the country.    The loss in VAT on each purchase would be easily compensated by a greater number of operations and the saving of jobs.

Education

Decentralisation was a mess.  Lack of infrastructure and services did not entice City folk away.  Now is the time to acquire a land bank and plan infrastructure and this should be done in one or two locations.  Consider in 10 years time an alternative administrative centre with a university and world class hospital, where property, school places etc are affordable.  It needs to be central with transport links including quality trains to Dublin.

The solution is to centralise a number of government departments outside Dublin - in the Midlands - and to plan for it now - taking advantage of the downturn to utilise the best creative and planning resources for a world class future avoiding the traffic, embedded thinking and cumbersome problems we have seen in Dublin for the last 15 years.

Education

Build a Science Museum in Dublin

My suggestion is that we invite a developer to set up a consortium of developers and voluntary construction teams to plan and build the museum.  Innovators and thinkers from universities and schools of technology, right down to community wizards, could collaborate on exhibit design.  Fund-raisers could devote their skills free of charge to publicize the museum, to pay for building materials and labour.

This project could be completed by the Dublin City of Science Year, 2012 which is under the direction of Professor Patrick Cunningham, Chief Science Adviser, Forfas.  This endeavour would demand expert organization, resource identification, and would need to appeal to the public imagination in order to deliver a first class publicly built, public-involved, public designed, science museum.  Exhibits would illustrate and clarify difficult concepts deriving from biology, chemistry and physics, as well as from engineering, environmental science, and finance.  Who could resist an interactive exhibit which reveals how ATM machines work.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

Green Business

In waste treatment plants throughout the country, if pig slurry was added it would generate gas that in turn could be used in generating electric, which could then be sold to the national grid or used by the local authority. The dry material left over after this process could be given back to the farmers and this could be spread instead of the slurry, thereby ensuring that no slurry would end up in the water courses.  I actually saw this process on television years ago in Holland where 70% of a town energy was generated by the slurry.

Innovation

Let’s aim to convert our weaknesses into strengths.

Weakness: We are a small open economy, largely trading in dollars and sterling
Strength: We are part of a union of nearly twenty countries that trade in the Euro, the largest and richest economy in the world. Let’s learn from our farming sector and start spreading our wings a bit more.  Why try to attract Americans and English people who are currency sensitive when we have hundreds of millions of fellow Europeans for whom currency is a non-issue?

Weakness: We are largely monoglot. (The Germans will sell to you in English but you need to sell to them in German)
Strength: Let’s put a real programme in place to become as polyglot as the Dutch within 10 years.

Weakness: Our tourism offering is too American/Anglo focussed, seeking low volume, high spend customers.
Strength: Let’s put a programme in place to ensure that we have a range of tourist offerings that are less weather dependent, such as walking, fishing, bird-watching, music and dance etc - thereby ensuring that we get the volume of tourists in to enable us to become competitive price wise.  We are seen abroad as the “Green Island”. It’s a great start.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

Policy

Many state bodies pay high rents for office space in Dublin City.  Instead they should buy vacant property and move to offices they own, instead of paying rent, and help stimulate the economy in this way.

Policy

A complete re-structure of both the Seanad and the Dáil. Holland with a population of 18 million has 150 politicians between their upper and lower parliament.  Reduce the number of Senators and TDs, restructure the electoral areas along the lines of the provincial system

Policy

I am a GP. For years the HSE have been saying we need to prescribe cheaper drugs etc but they make it very difficult to do so. It would be so simple if we could all just prescribe generic drugs instead of brand names. Currently if I want to prescribe co-amoxiclav, an antibiotic, I can prescribe augmentin, the original drug and most expensive brand or I can prescribe branded generics such as clavamel or germentin. However to do this I need to be aware all the time which is cheapest and this changes all the time.

I think we should all prescribe plain co-amoxiclav and the pharmacist should be obliged to dispense the cheapest generic. This happens in the UK where no one would dream of prescribing augmentin because there are several cheaper alternatives, Also clavamel and germentin are made here by Irish companies so this would help the economy too.   I think the government has been afraid to implement this as it receives millions in taxes etc from the big drug companies and doesn’t want to rock the boat with them.

Policy

My Idea is to offer people the option to work while receiving the dole. My husband is unemployed and he would rather do anything than sit at home doing nothing. Ask employers to register to take on a recently unemployed person for a limited amount of hours a week. They could say what they require and what they will offer in terms of training in return. The unemployed people could not only learn new skills but could bring new skills to the company.

Local authorities could also provide positions for people, as could TDs and Councillors, schools, churches, voluntary groups and hospitals. People who take up the option to work for their dole could be rewarded by not having to queue to sign on.  We absolutely must keep people working and feeling useful. Long-term unemployment is crushingly depressing and the longer one is unemployed the harder it is to get back into the work force.

Policy

Eliminate the Sunday/weekend premium in the hotel industry. This is a premium on staff when we are at our busiest in the week and makes weekend operations unprofitable especially in food operations.  Hotels are struggling at the moment and if wages could be slightly reduced it would give a great help to the industry at a time when with the recession, falling tourist numbers, along with increases in rates etc the hotel industry is on its knees in many parts.

Policy

A skills bank could be set up on a local level i.e. villages, small towns. Each skills bank would consist of unemployed people with a particular skill or trade that could be used locally, from making footpaths to clearing litter (work that local councils can’t get to) and even down to finishing off houses that that are incomplete. The advantage of registering for skills bank could be an additional 10% or so payment on to of social welfare/jobseekers allowance. Every field from accounting to zoology could be tapped into and used to save skills.

Policy

People on job seekers’ benefit/job seekers’ allowance are discouraged from starting a business as they lose all their benefit if they become self employed. It would promote start-up businesses if recipients of JSB/JSA could start a business and if they earn anything make it deductible against the JSB/JSA rather wiping it out immediately.  This means that every bit they earn is a saving for the exchequer. If they manage €50/week for the first few weeks they are no worse off for trying and the exchequer can save some money.

The current system where they lose all benefit if they become self employed discourages them from trying. This is especially the case for JSB which is received by people made redundant and may not actually need it they payments (e.g. spouse may still be working) they maximise the payout by not becoming self employed until the benefit runs out. They are effectively being paid not to try starting a business.

Policy

The Government should set up a specific website, like the US Government has done at http://www.govdeals.com/eas/ to sell off Government surplus stock, and items seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

Services (local)

Two of my relations needed crutches after operations.  As far as I can make out they paid a nominal sum to the hospitals for these.  It seems that there is no follow-up to get the crutches back for re-use so my suggestion is that the HSE have drop off points for people to return such items for re-use. Saves money as not so many new items would have to be purchased and most people do not want these items cluttering up their homes anyway.

Social and voluntary

Set up a copper campaign.  In many homes - in drawers and glass jars - lie forgotten copper coins which if collected would come to probably over 100 million euro.  This money could be collected at local post offices or news agents for a small fee .The money would be used for the most vulnerable of our society in Ireland. It would used as an on going basis.  Don’t let those coppers lie there lets get them to work

Sport

Ireland should bid to host Euro 2016.  The European Championships are such a wonderful occasion and I’m sure any country snaps your arm off for the opportunity of hosting it.

Croke Park and the new Lansdowne Road would be the two main stadiums.  After that you can take your pick from the following stadiums: the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, the famous Thomond Park, Pairc Uí Chaoimh in Cork, Semple Stadium in Thurles, Pearse Stadium in Galway, Clones, Castlebar, Nowlan Park in Kilkenny, Portlaoise, Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. A certain amount of work would need to be done on each of course but not as much as you’d think either.

The second point is that we might not have the infrastructure to handle such an event. Of course we do and again whatever improvements need to be made, we have still have 7 years to do them. If we need more hotels, a better road or rail network we should build them and when the tournament is over and the whole country has gotten rich off the back of it, we would still have all this fantastic infrastructure in place which would attract investment into the country for years to come. The Olympic effect they might call it.

As a venue, Ireland would be an amazing place to hold the tournament. It is actually a beautiful country with very friendly people who love having a laugh. Essentially this is true even if we forget it sometimes. I’m sure our European cousins would be totally psyched at the idea of spending their summer holidays road tripping around Ireland following the footy. Plus Ireland is so small that once you get here it wouldn’t involve too many long trips.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

Tourism

Give all EU citizens free travel in Ireland for a trial period of 3 months to see whether it helps the tourism sector.  This should not only apply to bus services in the cities but main line train and bus services as well.  If there are concerns regarding peak hours have it only available in non peak hours.

Technology

Google, according to the front page of today’s Irish Times, is sending 5 cars with cameras on their roofs to record “streetscapes” for addition to Google earth and Google maps.  This will allow for people to virtual tours of streets in towns and cities of Ireland.  The cameras will pick up details of shop fronts and displays in windows etc.

If each business prominently displayed the business web address (website location) boldly on windows or door name plates, free advertising of that business would ensue and potentially generate extra “after hours” or international inquiries. So… start displaying your web addresses and watch for the Google cameras as they drive around capturing your details!

Technology

Texting on mobile phones is an extremely popular means of communication. Very often too the full capacity of the text “space” is not used. i.e., some messages like “c u @ 9.” leave a lot of unused characters/space on the screen.

The technology would allow for the use of this unused space and I think it could be arranged to have an additional template embedded in it e.g. the owner of the phones email or web address.  Accordingly every time you sent a text you would be advertising, at your discretion, information on your business to the recipient of the text.  In short, the unused element of the text would be used to impart some other information, embedded in the text that might generate further enquiries or economic activity.  Mobile phone companies should be invited to offer such a service.

Transport

A couple of years ago I visited Ciampino Airport in Rome. The Airport is a Civil & Military Airport. I think this approach would work well in an Irish Airport.     My idea is to move the Irish Air Corps to Shannon Airport and to free up Baldonnel to be used as a commercial airport (perhaps a ‘low-fare’ airport) to attract tourism and appropriate airport dependent businesses into the area. (The road & rail network is close by too!)

This could create a catalyst or stimulus for major (privately funded) construction and infrastructure projects in west Dublin/Kildare. Some of the financial benefits could be earmarked for the Dept. of Defence budget.    This would also create a significant stimulus in the mid-west area and support the future of the airport/ regional development. It would appear to me that there are natural linkages between the notion of a military presence at Shannon and the fact that the airport already houses the US home land security pre-immigration service, Irish Coast Guard, etc.

Transport

Why not build a four lane bridge from Ireland to Wales, the building creates jobs, the maintenance creates jobs, creates jobs in customs, security on both sides.  It speeds up delivery of goods from one country to another; no plane costs, no shipping costs, no waiting around for the truck to be loaded up etc.

The toll would say be €12 and €10 of that is divided evenly between countries with €2 being used for maintenance. It’s 64 km from Dublin to Wales.   To summarise it, cuts cost for travel for ordinary people and business creates jobs in both economies both economies will benefit from money regains tourism industry will grow as it’s easier to come over and leave

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

The Ideas Campaign - latest sample of ideas received since campaign launch

All-Ireland economy

The concept of an all-island economy is great, but the reality is different. My idea is that we need to rationalise some of the State agencies founded as a result of the Good Friday agreement. Tourism is an obvious case in point.

There are no fewer than three agencies promoting tourism for a very small country. This causes great hilarity abroad.

Tourism Ireland seems to be doing a great job marketing Ireland internationally and marketing it as an all-island destination. Yet Failte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board are effectively in competition with each other for the home market.

They’ll say otherwise, but you only have to listen to the ads to know that this is not the case. Merge the tourism bodies; ensure greater accountability for what they do and more creativity in how they use their marketing budgets.

Construction

My idea is that the ‘locals only’ planning rule that is in force in some counties be relaxed for a certain period. This would create building jobs and inject some badly needed cash into local economies.

Education

Secondary school pupils should be exposed to innovative and creative use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) through workshops which are interesting and enjoyable and which could spark an interest in technical/scientific subjects at third level.

These workshops could be supported by sponsorship from the large IT companies who are seeking graduates. I have worked with the B2C project (http://www.suas.ie/b2c.html) in Trinity.

While Suas works primarily with disadvantaged schools, the facilities and programmes have been attended by students from ‘mainstream’ schools also.

I have seen the enormous talent and ability shown by participants. This talent needs to be fostered for the future. The model of learning in this programme can and should be extended to the schools.

Education

Foreign language education should start in primary school at senior infants. Children have a great capacity to learn new languages at this age and we should waste this opportunity.

Mandarin Chinese and Spanish are the two languages that should be offered. The focus should be on spoken language only until secondary school, and the priority should be to make learning the language fun.

Education

Make ‘Running your own Business’ or ‘Setting up Your Own Business’ an optional or even compulsory module for all Transition Year students - it could even be incorporated as an optional add-on for third-level degrees. The reason I am suggesting this is after watching my daughter’s experience with a ‘mini business’ module during her Transition Year.

Because of this module, she learned more in four months about business and personal development than I have learned in 50 years. Also, they sourced raw materials over the Internet, stayed up late printing T-shirts, made a profit, had fun and she now says she’d have no worries whatsoever about setting up or being part of a company.

My husband and I come from families who earned their living through jobs. Our daughter’s experience broke through this into the new world of entrepreneurship. She would never ever have done this if it hadn’t been mandatory for Transition Year students in her particular school.

Green businesses

In the summer we still tend to put the boiler on for a while to heat the water, to wash the greasy saucepans etc. Why not consider using the principle behind the electric shower for the supply of hot water in the kitchen?

The rationale behind the electric shower is to provide hot water on demand without having to run the boiler first. Why not the same for the kitchen sink?

Insert a tap with a heating element that works on the same principle as the electric shower, i.e. only heating the exact amount of water you need exactly when you need it. No wasteful heating of a full tank of water.

I’m not sure if the sums add up, but maybe it’s worth a look for some budding entrepreneur.

Green business

My idea is to utilise a resource that we all produce - domestic waste. My understanding is that this is currently shipped to China for recycling.

Given the availability of employees, land and cheap industrial space in this country, would it not make sense for the Government to fund and support an Irish recycling industry?

I appreciate that this has to be done on an industrial scale to be cost efficient but WHY NOT? We are perfectly situated to tap into the British and mainland European markets. Irish people have really embraced the idea of recycling and a greener future for our country - surely there would be great enthusiasm for such a project.

Green business

All petrol cars can now run on E85 (ethanol), once fitted with a conversion kit. However, for cars registered under the older system of road tax (pre July 2008), the charge is based on the engine size.

I feel the NCT should be able to test pre-2008 cars fitted with an ethanol conversion for CO2 emissions and the road tax should then be calculated under the current system of CO2 emissions.

Some experts say that E85 can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 70%. The upcoming Budget is an ideal time to implement this change. Motorists would be encouraged to change to a renewable, more environmental friendly fuel. It would also have the benefit of creating work in the NCT and for the local mechanics who would fit the conversion kits.

Ethanol can be made in Ireland from whey, a byproduct of milk, so this may also help stabilise the recent dramatic fall in milk prices for farmers.

Green business

Remove all VAT on insulation products. This will increase the likelihood of people insulating their homes/businesses. I am not referring just to tradesmen that insulate, but also the DIYers. The costs would not be high to the Government and the benefits would be enormous.

There would be increased business for manufacturers and hardware stores. Secondly, people would be more comfortable and energy efficient in their homes/businesses. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the Government would not have to waste taxpayers’ money on buying carbon credits on the open market.

Green business

A €1 levy should be charged on all plastic/glass bottles - from the smallest to the tallest. They have a similar idea in Switzerland where you are charged an extra 50 Swiss cents when you buy a bottle of lemonade etc.

When you return the empty plastic container to the shop, you get your 50c back and the shop returns the bottle to the recycling company for it to be used again. This is a clever way of getting people to recycle their bottles.

It makes people more aware that they have to recycle, reducing landfills etc and it creates employment in recycling.

Innovation

My idea is to establish Idea Management Systems in public and private organisations throughout Ireland.

Each year, Toyota’s employees implement 1.5 million ideas that save the company over $300 million annually. Inspired by this, a decade ago the Chairman and CEO of Dana Corporation (an auto industry giant in the US) asked his 80,000 employees to submit two creative ideas per month and implement 80% of them. A cultural transformation began, and for over 10 years Dana’s employees implemented about two million ideas per year, saving over $2 billion.

Beginning in 2001, using the same process, Technicolor in Detroit with 1,800 employees generated 20,000 ideas, implemented over 7,400 of them, and saved the company over $10 million within a year.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

Innovation

Why not follow on from the Ideas Campaign and set up ‘Inventors Clubs’ across the country? These could be in the form of ‘One Stop Shops’ or support/networking groups where budding and experienced inventors can exchange ideas, form alliances, provide guidance on patents etc.

In short, use the vast innovation base that is the public. It would help increase Ireland’s international profile in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Pharmaceutical / bio pharmaceutical / medical devices

My idea is that we should promote Ireland as the country with the least red tape for the biotech / pharmaceutical / biopharma industries where time to market from R&D is crucial in getting the highest return possible on investment. An extra year on market ahead of the competition goes a long way.

Policy

Set up a website to provide comprehensive information on healthcare options, with the principle aim of reducing unnecessary healthcare visits, particularly to A&E, and improving efficiency.

This website would act as the first point of contact for anyone considering using health services, by directing them as to which service they should use (GP/Health Centre/A&E etc), where they can find it (embedded Google Maps), how it is paid for (including info on medical/GP cards, health insurance, direct payments), and when they should visit, including opening hours and graphs of historical activity.

The latter is important because if people can see that they’ll need to wait eight hours on a Saturday night but one hour on a Sunday morning, they’ll tend to make better decisions about the urgency of their own case.

The website would also include general medical advice on subjects such as quitting smoking, eating habits, pregnancy, fitness, etc. It might also (for example) discourage an otherwise healthy adult with a bad cold from going to the doctor; explain why antibiotics are useless for colds and flus; indicate which minor ailments would be appropriate to simply ask a pharmacist’s advice.

I’d suggest the very successful www.citizensinformation.ie as a model for this site.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

Policy

Adjust planning policy to give priority to businesses sited in public areas such as city parks, national parks, sea fronts, city squares etc. In most continental European cities, public areas such as the above have an abundance of commercial cafes, bars, shops, ice cream stands, restaurants etc.

As well as providing jobs, these improve the amenity value of the area by providing an alternative way to enjoy the surroundings, and are particularly convenient for tourists.
I can see two general approaches to encouraging this type of development.

Firstly, local authorities might plan and commission the construction of premises, and retain full ownership. This would require less start-up capital from potential businesses. Alternatively, they might designate the areas as a new type of planning zone, and encourage interested parties to apply for permission to construct premises to be sub-leased. The two approaches are not exclusive.

Technology

The Government should focus on strategies that will foster the creation of native technology companies, and keep them rooted in Ireland until they become global players rather than getting bought out.

Numerous things could be done to encourage technology start ups. The risks to entrepreneurs should be lowered wherever possible. After all, these people employ the rest of us at great financial risk to themselves.  (The few that receive great reward should be incentivised to hire even more of us or fund/advise more start-ups.)

For example: if an entrepreneur goes out of business, especially after having paid employees for years, s/he should be allowed to claim social welfare before selling his/her home or business fixed assets (which might help restart a business at low cost).

Protect the primary home (but not the fancy car) from creditors, especially when this was the entrepreneur’s residence before starting the business. Publish rules as to how and when bad credit histories can be wiped clean. Many successful entrepreneurs are those who learned from failure. It’s in the economy’s interest that people be given at a second chance.

(This idea is very long and detailed and has had to be edited for space reasons)

Technology

Technology transfer professionals and commercialisation specialists always talk about the benefits of clusters (areas where a nucleus of skills can develop, e.g. Galway for Medical Devices).

I have spent some time looking at business opportunities out of the Tech Transfer offices in universities and the ITs, and feel the problem we have in Ireland is a lack of clustering of entrepreneurial talent to bring innovative ideas to fruition.

The solutions to this involve simplifying the IP (Intellectual Property) process, widening the net on innovations beyond VC (Venture Capital) and helping the third-level institutions understand and put a value on entrepreneurial experience.

Most importantly, groups and clusters of entrepreneurs need to coach and mentor the potential third-level spin-outs into understanding where their inventions and innovations can deliver real value to potential customers.