This article is from page 8 of the 2006-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
ENTERPRISE, Trade and Employment Minister, Michael Martin has confirmed he has approved the new corporate plan for Shannon Development.
The move to approve the plan brings a step nearer, the implementation of the contentious new mandate for Shannon Development, which strips the company of its enterprise functions in the Shannon region.
However, apart from the company’s chief executive, Kevin Thompstone, management team and board, no staff member has seen the contents of the corporate plan, because unions are refusing to co-operate with the new mandate, pending the completion of a clarification process around it.
In a Dáil response to Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent on the issue, Minister Martin said: “I have recently approved the Shannon Development Corporate Plan drawn up, at my request, to give effect to the new mandate. My colleague, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism has also indicated his approval.
“The plan sets out a clear and focused vision on the part of the company for its own future consistent with its mandate. As such it merits the support of all stakeholders in furthering the interests of the region.
“This process has not progressed as quickly as we may have wished, but it is more important to implement changes that all stakeholders can subscribe to rather than impose a unilateral solution that does not fully address the concerns of some of those stakeholders.
“Nevertheless, I expect this process to be brought to a successful conclusion very shortly and that the mandate will be implemented this year. There is no evidence to suggest that the process of engagement that has been undertaken with the staff representatives of the company has, in any way, inhibited investment in the region.
“Under the terms of the new mandate, Shannon Development is being given a more focused regional economic remit that will complement the roles of the national agencies, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, in attracting foreign direct investment and developing the indigenous enterprise base in the region.
“The company will also continue to be responsible for providing appropriate property solutions for both indigenous and overseas enterprises throughout the Shannon region and for the management and development of the Shannon Free Zone Industrial Estate.
Speaking to The Clare People , Shannon Development chief executive, Kevin Thompstone, confirmed that staff had not seen the contents of the corporate plan.
However, he said: “There is no big mystery to it. We have not been treating it like a top secret item, I would have openly shared the thinking around it.
“In essence, the gist of the plan is we are saying, Shannon Development is a regional economic company, our job is to make it easy for investors and visitors to imagine a bright future for the region, to exploit the opportunities, eliminate the obstacles to achieve that ambition and to build a hub of development and activity in the west of Ireland.
“In my role as CEO, it is important that we chart out what we are going to be doing over the next few years and I sat down with the senior management team, worked through that, over the past year and set out clear goals for the company.
“The key means to achieve those objectives: focusing on flagship projects, we will use property as a key tool to deliver those projects and we will use our role as a regional tourism authority to develop strategic marketing initiatives.
“That is the strategy, the plan is about fleshing that out by making sure that we have the capital and revenue resources in order to achieve it.”