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Rethinking social enterprise policy making in Ireland – untangling proportionate, disproportionate and unengaged sectoral policy contributions Cover

Rethinking social enterprise policy making in Ireland – untangling proportionate, disproportionate and unengaged sectoral policy contributions

By: Deiric Ó Broin and  Gerard Doyle  
Open Access
|Apr 2023

Figures & Tables

Codes and Themes

CodeTheme
Perception of reliance on grantsGrant hunters
Community activists engaged in poverty alleviationMessers
Lack of capacity to engage in enterprise
Concern of loss of powerOld regime fights back
Empower a cadre of stakeholdersCounter lobbying

Summary of the documentation used for analysis

OrganisationTypeYearDocument
ForfásState Agency2007Ireland’s Co-operative Sector
PLANETCivil Society Organisation2009Exploring Social Enterprise in Nine Areas in Ireland
Social Enterprise Task ForceCivil Society Organisation2010Adding Value – Delivering Change The Role of Social Enterprise in National Recovery
Government of IrelandGovernment2011Programme for Government
Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Task ForceCivil Society Organisation2012Unlocking the Potential of Social Enterprise & Entrepreneurship – a submission to Forfás
ForfásState Agency2013Social Enterprise in Ireland: sectoral opportunities and policy issues
Department of Rural and Community DevelopmentGovernment Department2017Realising our Rural Potential: action plan for rural development.
Department of JusticeGovernment Department2017A New Way Forward, Social Enterprise Strategy 2017-2019
Department of JusticeGovernment Department2018A New Way Forward, Social Enterprise Strategy 2017-201, mid-term review
Social Finance Foundation/ Department of Rural and Community DevelopmentQuasi-Public Agency/Government Department2018Social Enterprise in Ireland - research report to support the development of a National Social Enterprise Policy
Department of Rural and Community DevelopmentGovernment Department2019National Social Enterprise Policy 2019-2022
Department of Rural and Community DevelopmentGovernment Department2019Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities - a five-year strategy to support the community and voluntary sector in Ireland 2019-2024
Department of Rural and Community DevelopmentGovernment Department2020National Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland 2019-2022; annual report 2020
Department of JusticeGovernment Department2021Working To Change, Social Enterprise and Employment Strategy 2021 – 2023

Interviewees

IdentifierInterviewee organisation
Elected - 1TD with a commitment to developing social enterprise policy
Elected - 2TD with a commitment to developing social enterprise policy
Elected - 3TD with a commitment to developing social enterprise policy
State - 1Civil/public servant
State - 2Civil/public servant
State - 3Civil/public servant
State - 4Civil/public servant
State - 5Civil/public servant
State - 6Civil/public servant
State - 7Civil/public servant
State - 8Civil/public servant
State - 9Civil/public servant
Civil - 1Representative of civil society organisation including social finance providers
Civil - 2Representative of civil society organisation including social finance providers
Civil - 3Representative of civil society organisation including social finance providers
Civil - 4Representative of civil society organisation including social finance providers
Civil - 6Representative of civil society organisation including social finance providers

Drivers and trends of social enterprise

Type of welfare systemMain drivers boosting social enterprise developmentExamples of countries
Poor supply of welfare services by public providers and, traditionally, gaps in welfare delivery and strong civic engagementBottom-up experimentation of new services by groups of citizensGreece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain
Consolidation of social enterprises, thanks to public policies that have regularised social-service delivery
Extensive public supply of social services, increasingly contracted out to private providersPrivatisation of social services Bottom-up dynamicsDenmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom
Extensive public and non- profit welfare structures, covering the majority of the needs of the populationPublic support system designed to support work integrationAustria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands
Bottom-up emergence of social enterprises to address new needs
Welfare systems that have undergone drastic reforms, weak associative and cooperative traditionPublic policies (start-up grants) specifically tailored to support WISE initiatives with philanthropic background and donors’ programmesCEE and SEE countries
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijm-2023-0004 | Journal eISSN: 2451-2834 | Journal ISSN: 1649-248X
Language: English
Page range: 103 - 118
Published on: Apr 13, 2023
Published by: Irish Academy of Management
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 3 issues per year

© 2023 Deiric Ó Broin, Gerard Doyle, published by Irish Academy of Management
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.