Eoghan meeting with the Minister for the Interior this morning at government buildings. Eoghan will later meet with the Bulgarian Head of State, President Rosen Plevneliev.

Bulgarian Election – Eoghan Murphy TD leads International team

Recently I was appointed by the Chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to lead the short term observation mission to Bulgaria for their parliamentary elections this Sunday. This is an important moment in Bulgaria’s political history and I am honoured to be invited to Bulgaria to lead this mission.

It is a very different political environment to the one at home with 29 political parties, 7 coalitions, and 2 independent candidates contesting the elections; in all 8200 candidates will contest 240 seats. The logistics of the operation are impressive to say the least.

It is interesting to note that Bulgaria has never returned the same government to power since it chose democracy as its political system. As a committed member of the European Union, Bulgaria faces the same challenges and opportunities that every EU member faces at present, together with its own internal dynamics and political history.

Below is an opinion piece that was published in the Bulgarian media today explaining the reasons for the OSCE’s presence and outlining what the international team is here to do.

Eoghan Murphy, Special Co-ordinator, Short Term OSCE Observer Mission, Bulgarian Parliamentary Elections

OSCE Observers Looking Forward to Bulgaria’s Election

When more than 200 international observers descend on Bulgaria to witness the parliamentary elections this week, it will be the first time since 1997 that the country has hosted such a full-fledged observation from the OSCE and its Parliamentary Assembly.

So, after 16 years, why are we returning?

Let me begin by pointing out that, as the political figure appointed to head this mission on behalf of the OSCE, our presence here is independent from some of the topical items that may appear in the news.

Bulgaria has moved a great distance in political, social and economic terms in two decades, since those times when the path to Brussels was considered as something unconceivable. It is 16 years since the last electoral observation mission here and the OSCE is returning to a very different political landscape.

From our own pre-election visits, observations and briefings, we have seen election officials functioning with a new level of openness during this campaign, and I hope those same officials are proud to welcome the international observers this month. At our best, observation missions help keep trust and integrity in a system in which we are all invested.

No one in Sofia should view the presence of observers this year as any sort of a step back. On the contrary, Sofia’s decision to welcome OSCE observers – as enshrined in national law and Bulgaria’s international commitments – is recognition of Bulgaria’s stature within Europe and dedication to multilateral cooperation on our shared democratic goals. While we cannot be in every OSCE country to observe every election, we always strive for a geographic balance – observing electoral contests throughout our diverse region from Vancouver to Vladivostok, including EU countries, like Bulgaria.

With every election, no matter the present day political challenges, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to reaffirm our democratic principles. People’s dissatisfaction with the political class (a notion hardly unique to Bulgaria during the current global recession), the polarised political debate (not uncommon either), and intense competition between the parties are just some of the ingredients that make the 12 May elections a defining moment in Bulgaria’s history.

As an elected parliamentarian myself, with many elected colleagues and friends in the OSCE region, I have been in a position to witness first-hand, significant changes that have been brought about by people of different nationalities in different countries exercising their democratic rights. And whatever the outcome on election day, it is fundamentally important that people have trust in the election itself for these rights to maintain and to thrive. This is particularly true in challenging times.

We are not coming to Sofia to question Bulgarians’ ability to hold free and democratic elections, but rather to send a signal that the OSCE stands ready to actively support this country just like any other participating State. We come to proclaim our shared commitments to fundamental freedoms so necessary to our collective security community.

Throughout the country on Sunday we will be present with open eyes, and come Monday, we will share our observations with the public. And should actions on election day impact the level of trust in this country’s democratic institutions, we will report them accurately and without bias to the international community.

For elections, as thrilling as they can be, in the end, are always about more than the personalities on the ballot. Every election is a test, not so much about the strength of parties but the strength of processes, a nation’s chance to affirm its own commitment to democratic governance. It is up to all those who participate in this process to ensure the will of the people is not only expressed but accepted and respected as well.

Squarespace, the leading all-in-one website publishing platform, has announced its plans to establish its EMEA Headquarters in Dublin along with the creation of 100 new jobs. The initiative is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation through IDA Ireland, the government agency responsible for the attraction and development of foreign investment in Ireland.

Squarespace is a website publishing platform that allows anyone to easily create professional blogs, web pages, stores, and galleries without touching a line of code. The  service provides hosting, content management, domain names, social integrations, e-commerce, and 24-hour customer support. The Squarespace operation in central Dublin will serve Squarespace customers around the globe and will include a variety of customer care roles.

The decision by Squarespace to base its headquarters in Dublin is a signal of Ireland’s growing reputation as the high tech capital of Europe. This means great opportunities for our bright, highly-skilled workforce, and the Government is working to attract further investment through its Action Plan for Jobs. The Government is determined to foster a supportive and flexible enterprise environment so that Ireland’s digital economy can continue to grow. Research from Sean O’Sullivan and OpenIreland shows an additional four spin-off jobs will be created for each of those tech jobs, here in Dublin. And if that happens, that will be a major additional boost.

ICT is a key sector targeted as part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, and in the two years since this Government came into office over 11,000 additional people work in this sector.

For more information about Squarespace click here.

Details of recruitment can be found here.

We heard some important development from the government today in relation to filling the skills gap in the tech sector.

A total of 2,000 additional ICT graduates-level professionals will be provided in the coming year through the education system and  employment permits.The changes are part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2013, and are aimed at providing Ireland with the highest proportion of ICT graduates as a share of third level graduates by 2018.

To read further details of changes to the Permit System please click here.

The new series of reforms announced today will target:

– An increase of 50%, or 700, in the number of employment permits granted over the  coming year in the ICT sector.
– A reduction of 33% in the processing time for employment permits
– Improvements in the appeals process and a reduction in the number of appeals
– Broadening the highly-skilled eligible occupations list
– Improved customer service and communications
– Other areas where there is also a shortage of sufficient skilled talent
– 700 additional graduates from ICT skills conversion Programmes
– 600 additional graduates from Springboard ICT courses.

These changes will be of huge benefit in developing the ICT sector here, as well as providing a much needed jobs boost for the economy. These reforms keep us on the  path towards making Ireland the high tech capital of Europe. And for every job created in the tech sector an additional four jobs are created in the domestic economy.

I am delighted to announce that Fine Gael has nominated Helen McEntee to contest the by-election in Meath East on March 27th.

Helen is a 26 year old DCU graduate in economics, politics and law and has a Master’s in journalism and media communications from Griffith College. Helen is from Castletown, Co Meath, and before standing for election worked with her father in Dáil Éireann.

If elected Helen will be an excellent addition to the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party and to Dáil Eireann; she will represent the people of Meath East with determination and with pride.

Click here to watch Helen’s first election video.

Last week the government published the Action Plan for Jobs 2013.

To read the complete Action Plan for Jobs 2013, click here. To view the accompanying Table of Actions, click here.

The Plan, which contains 333 actions to be implemented in 2013 by 16 Government Departments and 46 agencies, will build on the progress made in 2012 and continue to improve supports for job-creating businesses and remove the barriers to employment-creation across the economy. These actions are additional to the 249 actions already implemented under Action Plan 2012, which have helped support net growth of almost 12,000 in private sector employment in the past year. In the three years to March 2011 a net 250,000 jobs were lost in the private sector. For more on the progress achieved under Action Plan 2012, click here.

In a major departure from the 2012 plan, Action Plan 2013 contains seven headline “Disruptive Reform” measures – high-impact measures with highly ambitious deadlines, implemented in partnership with senior industry figures and selected because of their potential to have a significant effect on job-creation:

1. JobsPlus – over two years the State will pay €1 of every €4 it costs an employer to recruit a long-term unemployed person off the Live Register

2. ICT Skills – provide an additional 2,000 ICT graduate level professionals in 2013, and by 2018 lead Europe in terms of ICT graduates as a percentage of all third level graduates

3. Energy Efficiency – the Government will create a €70million Energy Efficiency Fund to support 20 major projects in 2013 and ultimately create 5,000 jobs

4. Trading Online – get 2,000 more small businesses trading online in 2013 and 2014, with the creation of 3,200 jobs

5. Business Licences – create a single licensing application system for up to 25 licences in the retail sector, saving retailers over €20million per annum

6. Big Data – make Ireland one of the leading countries in Europe for Big Data, a sector growing by up to 40% per annum

7. Health Innovation Hub – Government will establish a world-renowned centre to establish Ireland as a leading location for start-up and growing medtech and healthcare companies.

Other measures to be delivered in 2013 under the Plan include:

1. Foreign Direct Investment – IDA to target more than 130 new investments, secure €500million worth of R&D investment and help create 13,000 new jobs in 2013

2. Indigenous Companies – Enterprise Ireland will as part of a comprehensive programme of supports, financially support 155 high potential and early-stage start-ups, assist 300 companies develop new overseas markets through the Potential Exporters Division and will support over 1,000 companies on management development programmes

3. Global Sourcing – €500million in additional contracts in 2013 for Irish companies from multinationals based here

4. Access to Finance – By end 2013 new Government finance schemes worth over €2billion will be lending to businesses; pillar bank lending targets for 2013 increased to €4billion; Credit Review Office strengthened

5. Costs – New Government policy statement on economic regulation; the landmark Companies Bill will make it cheaper to start and run a company; and the Workplace Relations Commission that will merge five worker relations bodies into two will be operational by the second half of the year.

6. Science/research – through SFI, provide support to five new Research Centres of major scale, involving Government investment of over €150 million and leveraging an industry contribution of over 30%

7. Sectors – continue to target employment growth in key sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture/food, aviation and cloud computing.

Statement by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny

Read An Taoiseach’s speech here.

Watch his speech here.

This week the government successfully ended what has been a long process of negotiations with the European Central Bank to restructure our debt repayment arrangement in relation to the Anglo Irish promissory notes (which were issued under the previous government).

It was a significant achievement for the country and a vindication of the strategy being pursued by the government on this issue, as well as the people leading that strategy.

As you will already be aware, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (formerly Anglo) has been wound up and special liquidators have been appointed. NAMA, through a special purpose vehicle, will acquire the assets of IBRC. The Central Bank will acquire the promissory notes and swap them for a portfolio of Irish government bonds on superior terms to those of the promissory notes, which will cease to exist.

What are some of the benefits of this?

– Spreading the cost of the prom notes from a weighted average life of circa 7-8 years to    circa 34-35 years, at a lower funding cost for the State, will mean significant annual interest savings;

– There will be a substantial annual cash flow benefit to the State from this arrangement (circa €2.3bn in the first year and €20bn over the next 10;

– A reduction in the underlying deficit of circa €1bn per annum in the coming years (before transaction costs), reducing the forecast deficit by circa 0.6% of GDP annually;

– A reduction in General Government debt over time.

Much coverage and analysis is already in the public domain and will continue over the coming days. However it is always helpful to go to the source where possible to fully understand the arrangements that have been put in place and the new deal that will come in to operation.

To that end you might find the following information from the Department of Finance to be a useful resource:

Transaction Overview

Speech by An Taoiseach announcing the Deal

Minister Noonan on the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Bill 2013

Q & A on the IBRC Liquidation

Impact Analysis: The impact of the transaction on the State’s public finances

Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Bill 2013

To read the complete progress report, click here.

The fourth and final quarterly progress report under Action Plan for Jobs 2012 was published today: 249 out of the 270 measures committed to be implemented in 2012 by all 15 Government Departments and 36 Agencies under the Action Plan for Jobs have been delivered.

TDs were requested to submit their own proposals to the Action Plan and you may recall that Minister Bruton held a number of public meetings at the time seeking ideas; I also put a request out to constituents in Dublin South East for their contributions at the time.

At the beginning of 2013, signs of some progress in the labour market include:

• Net growth of almost 12,000 in private sector employment in the past year. In the three years to March 2011 a net 250,000 jobs were lost in the private sector

• Net growth of more than 15,000 in the exporting sectors since the start of 2011. In the three years 2008-2010 a net 45,000 jobs were lost in these sectors

In February 2012 the Government published Action Plan for Jobs 2012, outlining the 270 new measures that would be implemented across Government during 2012 to drive employment creation. This was the first in an annual series of plans aimed at supporting a net increase in employment of 100,000 by 2016.

In a new departure for Government, underlining the priority assigned to job-creation, a monitoring committee was established led jointly by the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Jobs which committed to providing quarterly reports on the implementation by each Department and Agency of the measures committed for each quarter.

Among the measures delivered in 2012 are:

• €90million microfinance scheme to benefit 5500 businesses, create 7700 jobs

• €450million credit guarantee scheme to benefit 5600 businesses, create 4000 jobs

• €225million development capital scheme targeting investments of €2-€5million in mid-sized companies

• New Potential Exporters Division established in Enterprise Ireland

• Measures to turn good ideas emerging from State-backed scientific research into more good jobs, including Research Prioritisation, a “one-stop shop” for commercialising ideas and new technology research centres

• Launch of the National Broadband Plan

• Allocation of €20 million to a new Education and Training Fund targeting the Long Term Unemployed

• Implementation of a series of pro-jobs tax measures

• Industry-led manufacturing body to drive creation of 20,000 new jobs

• Health Innovation Hub to drive collaboration between the health system and industry

• A cross-Government Statement on the Green Economy with the potential to create 10,000 jobs

The Action Plan for Jobs 2013 will be published in the coming weeks.

The Minister for The Environment, Community and Local Government Phil Hogan TD has announced that the European Investment Bank loan will provide €200 million to support improvement in Ireland’s Water Services Investment Programme (WSIP) by financing 23 projects in Dublin and 10 counties around the country to provide new water mains, water and wastewater treatment facilities and reservoirs, as well as measures to improve water conservation.

To read more on this, click here.

Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is now open for applications for this year’s Awards Programme, with a total cash fund of €500,000 to support individuals with new solutions for social challenges in Ireland.

The Awards Programme will see eight social entrepreneurs selected to partake in one of our two support programmes: the Impact Programme and the Elevator Programme. Three social entrepreneurs will be selected for the Impact Programme and will each receive direct funding of €130,000 over two years, as well as over €70,000 worth of training, mentoring and support.

Five social entrepreneurs will be selected for the Elevator Programme and will each receive direct funding of €22,000 over one year, as well as over €10,000 worth of training, mentoring and support.

The deadline for applications is Monday 18th February. Full details of the application process, eligibility criteria and an overview of the Awards Programme can be found online at www.socialentrepreneurs.ie.

An Information Evening will be held on Tuesday 29th January at 6.30pm in the Waterways Ireland Visitor Centre, Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2. Previous Awardees will share their experiences and the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland team will be available to answer any questions you may have about the application process. Places are limited so if you would like to attend please register at http://seiawards2013infoevening.eventbrite.ie.