The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, has announced that he has secured Government agreement to commence drafting legislation to integrate Forfás, Ireland’s policy advisory board for enterprise and science, into his Department.
The aim of the move, which is part of a broader reform programme being pursued by the Minister, is to strengthen the capacity of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to drive job-creation policy by creating, from Forfás, a strategic policy division within the Department.
The Minister said the Government must continue “a relentless focus on jobs and competitiveness” and for this reason, Forfás is being integrated “into the heart of Government, to help drive job-creation policies“.
He added that Martin Shanahan, Chief Executive of Forfás and his team “have made a major contribution to the momentum we have built on the jobs challenge in the past two years. I look forward to continuing the strong collaboration we have built, to drive new reforms in employment and competitiveness policies and create the jobs we need”.