Goal 2: Facilitate Innovation and Entrepreneurship

This goal encompasses core elements of Economic Action Area 5: Action Plan for Jobs and Labour Market Activation, and Economic Action Area 6: Specific action to promote increased economic activity in line with regional priorities.

Indicative Scope

Kilkenny offers an opportunity to innovate in the provision of local Enterprise Centres, with the possibility of encouraging models of Pop-Up Hot Desking (in town/village centres). Key support agencies might include Carlow-Kilkenny ETB;

• Integrating with Goal 1, the option exists to encourage an integrated (cross-agency) Enterprise Start Up and Growth accelerator;
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• Encourage and accelerate the levels of Management Capacity Growth using targeted sectoral networking (Skillnets model) to complement the existing management development supports provided by LEO Kilkenny; and
   
• Actively engage with EU funding streams (LIFE, H2020, INTERREG) to improve medium tier access to support research and development, and capital funding. Kilkenny County Council has decided to establish an EU Unit to proactively identify EU funding opportunities that will facilitate (among other priorities), innovation and entrepreneurship.

Background Profile

The Forfás 2013 Annual Employment Survey provided an analysis of employment levels in Industrial (including Primary Production) and Services companies under the remit of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.

Total permanent full-time employment in agency-assisted companies operating in all sectors amounted to 303,155 in 2013. This was an increase of 8,579 jobs (2.9 percent) on employment levels in 2012 and continued the trend of positive growth in employment since 2011.  Part-time and temporary employment in agency assisted firms increased by 3,827 in 2013 (+9 percent) to reach 46,167, the highest number recorded since 2004 and equivalent to 15 percent of permanent employment.

The South and East region (excluding Dublin) remained the largest region in employment terms, accounting for 126,169 jobs, or 41.6 percent, of total agency employment, followed by the Dublin region with 109,319 full-time jobs (36.1 percent of the total.  Dublin-based Irish client companies accounted for 48,126 jobs in 2013 (31.9 percent of the total), up 1,243 (2.7 percent) on 2012, but some 6,330 jobs less than the 2007 peak of 54,456 jobs.

Irish-owned firms located in the South and East Region accounted for 42.4 percent (64,068 jobs) of total Irish owned full-time employment in 2013, up from 59,704 in 2010 (7.3 per cent rise) but still a long way off the peak in 2007 of 72,483 jobs.  Foreign-owned Industrial and Services firms located in the South and East Region accounted for 62,101 jobs in 2013 (40.8 percent of all regions), up 1,222 jobs (2 percent) on the previous year, but 6,558 jobs less than the 2006 peak of 68,659.

The number of businesses in Co. Kilkenny fell over the period 2006-2012.  The total number of businesses fell by over 700 (or 17 percent) during the recession from 3,996 in 2006 to 3,273 in 2012. The numbers employed in each business sector also declined during the period by an average of 23 percent, excepting in the Financial and Insurance business sector, which experienced a slight increase of 3 percent, highlighting the critical importance of this sector to the local economy.