Overview
Social enterprises are businesses whose core objective is to achieve a social, societal, or environmental impact Following a number of calls over recent years for a Government policy to help social enterprise, Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring published Ireland's first ever National Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland on 18 July 2019. The main aim of the policy is to help social businesses to grow in scale, support jobs and make a positive impact on individuals and communities in rural and urban areas.
Key Areas for Support
The new policy is designed to provide support for social enterprise in three key areas:
- Building Awareness of Social Enterprise - The government plans to work closely with social enterprise stakeholders to develop an Awareness Strategy to help raise the profile of social enterprise in Ireland. By identifying best practice examples of social enterprises, the government aims to improve public understanding and to highlight their contribution to society and the economy.
- Fostering Growth and Strengthening Social Enterprise - There are a number of methods the government plans to use to help strengthen social enterprise. Through access to finance and funding, leadership and governance, creating market opportunities and a legal structure, the government aims to increase the participation of social enterprises in markets and its support social enterprise to grow in scale and impact
- Improving Policy Alignment - To improve policy alignment for social enterprises, the government plans to develop a better understanding of the interaction between social enterprises and relevant policy areas across government. The government also aims to engage in social policy developments at international level so as to ensure that social enterprises can benefit from international networks and supports.
Implementation
The implementation of this new policy will be led and overseen by an Implementation Group which will be chaired by the Department of Rural and Community Development. To ensure successful implementation of the policy, the government plans to adopt a collaborative approach and work alongside social enterprises and other relevant stakeholders. The new policy will be implemented in close co-ordination with the Action Plan to Support the Community and Voluntary Sectors in Ireland and the National Volunteering Strategy, to ensure coherent and aligned policy.
Four Year Plan
This new policy fulfils a commitment in the Action Plan for Rural Developments and Future Jobs Ireland. There are 26 measures which are set to be delivered by the government in partnership with social enterprise stakeholders across the three key areas over the next four years to ensure implementation of the new policy. By working closely with social enterprise stakeholders the government aims to support social enterprise to grow in scale and impact.
