 | |
| Former State Agency of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 1994 |
| Dissolved | 1 August 2014 |
| Superseding agency | |
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Headquarters | Wilton Park House, Wilton Place, Dublin 2 |
| Employees | 90[1] |
| Former State Agency of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment executive |
|
| Key documents |
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| Website | Forfás website |
Forfás (Irish pronunciation: [ˈfˠɔɾˠfˠaːsˠ]) was the national policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation in Ireland.[2] The agency was established in January 1994 under the Industrial Development Act, 1993 and was run by a board appointed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, to whom the agency was responsible. Forfás was dissolved on 1 August 2014 and its functions were transferred to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Enterprise Ireland, the Industrial Development Authority and the Health and Safety Authority.[1][3]
Legally, Forfás had five separate but related functions. It
In its day-to-day business, the primary function of Forfás was to analyse developments in areas concerning Ireland's industrial and economic development and to make policy recommendations based on this analysis to Government. The Irish Government was not obliged to implement any recommendations that Forfás made. Additional functions included:
As outlined above, Forfás also played a significant role in co-ordinating the activities of Government Enterprise Agencies (Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland).
Forfás was ultimately a board of members that advised the Government. Members were appointed to the Board of Forfás by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and as provided for in the Industrial Development legislation. Under the Industrial Development Act 1993, the CEOs of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland were automatically Board members of Forfás. By tradition, the Director General of FÁS and the Secretary General of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment were also board members. The Board also included a panel of business, economic, and other specialists.
While Forfás was a board, that board was supported by an executive of salaried employees. Forfás was the sole legal employer of staff in its own executive, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland. Arising out of this, all staff employed in these bodies were Forfás employees seconded to such bodies. Upon retirement, Forfás assumed responsibility for their pension, resulting in Forfás having a large annual pensions cost and a significant liability under accounting standard FRS 17.
Forfás fulfilled its mandate through three policy divisions:
The Competitiveness Division supported the Board of Forfás in providing advice to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the development agencies and other government departments. It had the following departments:
The Enterprise policy departments of this division supported the Board of Forfás in providing advice to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on general enterprise development and related issues: It had the following three departments:
This Division supported the Board of Forfás in providing advice to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the development and implementation of science, technology, innovation and human capital policy for economic and social well-being. The division also provided research and secretariat support to the Advisory Science Council, the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs and the Management Development Council. It was made up of the following departments:
Forfás provided the secretariat to a number of committees established by Government. These include:
Forfás also provided support to the Enterprise Strategy Group, the Small Business Forum, the Business Regulation Forum and the Consumer Strategy Group.
It also ran the Discover Science & Engineering (DSE) programme on behalf of the Office of Science & Technology. The programme bring together under one brand many of the existing national science, technology and engineering awareness activities and expands on these activities in a way that eliminates duplication and provides a more focused and effective communications strategy. The aim of the DSE programme is to encourage young people to consider careers in science, engineering and technology and, linked to that, to increase the numbers of students studying the physical sciences. In addition, the programme aims to raise the level of perception of science, technology, innovation and engineering among students and society in general. DSE runs numerous initiatives, including Science Week Ireland, Discover Primary Science, Greenwave and Science.ie.
The Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) has three main functions. It:
Forfás was responsible for the successful EMU Business Awareness Campaign in Ireland and related Loughrea Eurotown project and more recently, the Enterprise Strategy Group and the Consumer Strategy Group.
Forfás was the direct employer of all employees in the 'development agencies', including IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and also was the legal employer of the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Irish Government.
| # | Name | Appointed | Retired |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tom Toner | 1994 | 1999 |
| 2. | Peter Cassells | 2000 | 2004 |
| 3. | Eoin O'Driscoll | 2004 | 2014 |
| # | Name | Appointed | Retired |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | John Travers | 1994 | 2002 |
| 2. | Martin Cronin | 2002 | 2010 |
| 3. | Martin Shanahan | 2010 | 2014 |
Richard Bruton, the responsible Minister, received Cabinet approval last Tuesday for the move to dissolve the quango, which has a staff of about 90. The aim of the move is to strengthen the department's capacity to drive job-creation policy.
Forfás is Ireland's policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation.
