‘The Jobs Challenge - the Local and Regional Response’

Annual Conference

24th May Newpark Hotel

Kilkenny

2012Investing in your Future

ADMISSION IS FREE Booking EssentialFurther Information on featured projects on back cover

Booking Formfor S&E Regional Assembly Annual Conference(Please complete and return to Southern & Eastern Regional Assembly by email, post or fax)

Name of delegate(s):

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Name and address of organisation:_______________________________________________________________

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Telephone:_____________________________________________________

Fax: ___________________________________________________________

Email: _________________________________________________________

Where did you hear about the conference:

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No. of delegate(s) attending lunch:_________________________________________________(The conference is free of charge, a light lunch will be provided)

Please return completed form by Tuesday 22nd May 2012 to:Southern & Eastern Regional Assembly Assembly House,O’Connell Street,WaterfordEmail: kcoughlan@seregassembly.ie; ohearne@seregassembly.ieFax: + 353 (51) 879887Tel No: + 353 (51) 860700

Investing in your Future

9.00 – 9.45 Registration

9.45 Welcome and introductionCllr. Tomas Breathnach, Cathaoirleach, Southern & Eastern Regional Assembly

10.00 Keynote address and official opening of conferenceMr John Perry, T.D. Minister for Small Business at the Department of Jobs,Enterprise and Innovation

10.20 The current and future role of County/City Enterprise Boards in promoting job in micro-enterprisesMr. Vincent Reynolds, CEO and Chairman of the CEB Network

10.50 The contribution of the local development sector to job creation and its alignment with Local Government Mr. Aidan O’Reilly, Principal Officer, Department of Environment, Community & Local Government

11.20 Tea/Coffee Break

11.40 What the public sector needs to do to encourage higher levels of entrepreneurship and job creation – a private sector perspective Mr. Mark Fielding, Chief Executive, ISME

12.10 Can entrepreneurship contribute to employment creation?Ms. Paula Fitzsimons, Fitzsimons Consulting

12.40 The Action Plan for JobsMr. Declan Hughes, Manager, Enterprise & Trade Division, Forfás.

13.10 Panel Discussion

13.30 Closing remarks by Cathaoirleach, followed by lunch

Conference Programme24th May 2012, Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny

‘The Jobs Challenge - the Local and Regional Response’

Speakersfor S&E Regional Assembly Annual Conference

Cllr. TOMAS BREATHNACH Cathaoirleach, Southern & Eastern Regional Assembly

Cllr. Tomas Breathnach was elected Cathaoirleach of theSouthern & Eastern Regional Assembly in September 2011having been a member of the Assembly since September 2004.As a member of the Labour Party, Cllr Breathnach representsKilkenny County Council. Cllr Breathnach also sits on the SouthEast Regional Authority and the South East Regional Task Force. He is a retired secondary school teacher and a founding memberof both the Confederation of Community Groups of SouthKilkenny and of the Ferrybank Socio-Economic Partnership.

Mr. JOHN PERRY TDMinister for Small Business at the Department of Jobs,Enterprise and Innovation

Mr John Perry TD is Minister of State for Small Business. Herepresents the Sligo North Leitrim constituency. Mr Perry wasfirst elected to the Dáil in 1997 as a Fine Gael Spokesperson onScience, Technology, Small Business & Enterprise and theBorder Counties from 1997-2000. He was re-elected to the Dáilin May 2007 and was appointed Spokesperson on SmallBusiness. He served as Fine Gael Spokesperson on the Marine,October, 2004-September, 2007.

He is a businessperson in his home town of Ballymote in Co.Sligo, where he lives with wife Marie and son Jude. Johnestablished Sligo’s first Community Enterprise Board inBallymote, resulting in industrial development in the area. He isa former Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee.

Mr. VINCENT REYNOLDSCEO and Chairman of the CEB Network

Vincent Reynolds, CEO of Cavan County Enterprise Board, hasmore than 30 years’ experience working in the field of business,economic and community development. He served as a memberof the Business Enterprise Programme Team of the InternationalFund for Ireland for up to 20 years. A graduate of NUI Galway,Vincent is centrally involved in many organisations andprogrammes in the border region and has been the driver ofsuccessful initiatives such as Cavan Innovation & TechnologyCentre and Cavan County Enterprise Fund. kkkkkkkkkkkk

Mr. AIDAN O’REILLYPrincipal Officer, Department of Environment,Community & Local Government

Aidan O'Reilly is a Principal Officer with the Community Divisionof the Department of Environment, Community & LocalGovernment. He has specific responsibility to enhance alignmentbetween local government and local development, for North-South EU Programmes and for liaison with local authoritiesconcerning County Development Boards and a range of localgovernment services. Originally from Dublin, Aidan is now basedat DECLG's decentralised offices in Tubbercurry and Ballina. Hehas previously worked with the Departments of Justice, ForeignAffairs and Social Protection.

Mr. DECLAN HUGHESDivision Manager, Enterprise and Trade Policy, Forfás

Declan Hughes is head of the Enterprise and Trade Division inForfás, the Irish National Policy Advisory Board for Enterprise,Trade, Science, Technology and Innovation. The Divisionsupports the Board of Forfás in providing advice to theDepartment of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the enterprisedevelopment agencies and other Government Departments onissues relating to sectoral and regional development, enterprisecompetitiveness and trade strategy. Declan previously headedthe areas of competitiveness, infrastructure and science andtechnology policy within Forfás. He Chairs the Inter-AgencyPlanning Managers Group and inter-agency review of RegionalAid Guidelines, is a member of the Food Harvest 2020Implementation Group and has served on a number of EU andOECD committees.

Mr. MARK FIELDINGChief Executive, ISME

Mark Fielding has been the CEO of ISME, the Irish Small &Medium Enterprises Association, the Independent BusinessOrganisation, since 2001. Born in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, wherehis father ran a retail and wholesale pharmacy, Fielding waseducated at the Christian Brothers Schools, UCD, Institute ofChartered Accountants and the Institute of Taxation. He hasworked in the UK, France and Ireland and has assisted in thestart-up of more than 300 enterprises. He is a member of theCompany Law Review Group, the High Level Group on BusinessRegulation and the Advisory Group on Small Business. He alsosits on the administrative council of UEAPME, the Europeanbody for SMEs. ISME currently has 8,700 member firms nationwide employingin excess of 225,000 and is the only independent organisationsolely representing small and medium businesses and theirowners.

Ms. PAULA FITZSIMONSFitzsimons Consulting

Paula Fitzsimons is the founder and managing director ofFitzsimons Consulting, which specialises in areas related toentrepreneurship and growth. A recognised expert onentrepreneurship, Paula Fitzsimons has been the nationalcoordinator for GEM for Ireland since 2000, a former Presidentof the consortium of GEM national teams, and a former Directorof GERA, the governing body for the Global EntrepreneurshipResearch Association. Paula has also advised Forfás and theDepartment of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on thedevelopment of a national entrepreneurship policy and wasinvolved in the writing of Towards the Development of anEntrepreneurship Policy. Recognising that fewer women start new businesses and ofthose that start, fewer have significant growth ambitions than domen, Paula Fitzsimons designed and developed Going forGrowth, which is focused on peer support as a means ofassisting women entrepreneurs who wish to grow theirbusinesses.

Investing in your Future

‘The Jobs Challenge - the Local and Regional Response’

FEATURED COVER PROJECTS - from left to rightPaul Rawlins, MD of Motorcycle Rental Ireland Ltd T/A Celtic Riders,Supported by the Fingal County Enterprise BoardNetwatch, Carlow County Enterprise Board Start your own business, Kerry County Enterprise BoardHouse of Waterford Crystal, ERDF Gateways Scheme Fred & Ger Karlsson, Donedeal.ie (Ireland’s largest classified advertising website),Clients of Wexford County Enterprise BoardHarvesting farmed oysters at Dungarvan Bay, Co. Waterford,Iasc Sliogagh Dun Garbhain TeorantaCBS Charleville, Co. Cork, North Cork County Enterprise Board Senior Enterprise Project, Interreg IVB NWE

Woodstock Gardens, Co. Kilkenny