Forfás

Forfás is the national policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation in the Republic of Ireland. The agency was established in January 1994 under the [http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1993_19.html Industrial Development Act, 1993] and is run by a board appointed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, to whom the agency is responsible.

Functions

Legally, Forfás has five separate but related functions:
* To advise the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on matters relating to the development of industry
* Advise on the development and coordination of policy for Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, SFI
* Encourage the development of industry, technology, marketing & human resources
* Encourage the establishment & development of industrial undertakings from outside the State
* Advise and coordinate Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland in relation to their functionsIn its day-to-day business, the primary function of Forfás is 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 is not obliged to implement any recommendations that Forfás makes.

As outlined above, Forfás also plays a significant role in co-ordinating the activities of Government Enterprise Agencies (Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland) as well as other bodies such as FÁS and Shannon Development.

Board

Forfás is ultimately a board of members that advises Government. Members are 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 are automatically Board members of Forfás. By tradition, the Director General of FÁS and the Secretary General of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment are also board members. The Board also includes and a panel of business, economic and other specialists.

A full list of Board members is available from the [http://www.forfas.ie/about/board/index.html Forfás website] .

Executive

While Forfás is a board, that board is supported by an executive of salaried employees. Forfás is 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 are Forfás employees seconded to such bodies. Upon retirement, Forfás assumes responsibility for their pension, resulting in Forfás having a large annual pensions cost and a significant liability under accounting standard FRS 17.

Policy analysis & advice

Forfás fulfils its mandate through three policy divisions:
* Competitiveness Division
* Enterprise Policy and Corporate Services Division
* Science, Technology & Innovation Policy and Awareness Division

Competitiveness

The Competitiveness Division supports the Board of Forfás in providing advice to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the development agencies and other government departments.

Enterprise policy

Two policy departments support the Board of Forfás in providing advice to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on general enterprise development and related issues:
* Enterprise Policy and Communications Department
* Tax / Finance Policy and Enterprise Surveys Department

cience, technology & innovation

This Division supports the Board of Forfás in providing advice to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the development and implementation of science, technology and innovation (STI) policy for economic and social well-being. In addition, this Division:
* Builds on a strong basis of surveys and data analysis, to provide policy advice on key national and international STI issues
* Monitors and evaluates national and international science and technology and enterprise programmes
* Facilitates the co-ordination of Ireland’s participation in international STI policy and research programmes and initiatives

ecretariat support

Forfás provides the secretariat to a number of committees established by Government. These include:
* Advisory Council on Science & Technology in Ireland (ACSTI)
* Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN)
* National Competitiveness Council (NCC)
* National Consumer Agency (NCA)

Discover Science & Engineering

It also runs 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.

Irish National Accreditation Board

The Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) has three main functions. It:
* Accredits organisations involved in the certification of quality and environmental management systems, products and personnel, laboratories involved in calibration and testing activities, certification and inspection bodies, attesters and attestation bodies
* Responsible for accreditation in accordance with the relevant International Organisation for Standardisation ISO 17000 series of standards and guides and the harmonised EN 45000 series of European standards
* Is the national statutory monitoring authority for GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) and EMAS (European Eco-Management and Audit Schemes)

Other activities

Forfás was responsible for the successful EMU Business Awareness Campaign in the Republic of Ireland and related Loughrea Eurotown project and more recently, the Enterprise Strategy Group and the Consumer Strategy Group.

Forfás is the direct employer of all employees in the 'development agencies', including IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and also is the legal employer of the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Irish Government. The post is currently held by Patrick Cunningham, Professor of Animal Genetics at TCD, who holds a PhD from Cornell University.

The previous holder of the post was Barry McSweeney, who resigned in 2005 when it was revealed that he got his doctorate from Pacific Western University, a so-called diploma mill. [Lynch, Donal. (October 9, 2005). Sunday Independent "Degree of doubt for Bertie's boffin."] McSweeney is now a director of research at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.

Chairman of Forfás

{| class="wikitable"
- bgcolor="CCCCCC"! width="5%"|#! width="50%"|Name ! width="25%"|Appointed! width="25%"|Retired
-
1.
Mr. Tom Toner
1994
1999
-
2.
Mr. Peter Cassells
2000
2004
-
3.
Mr. Eoin O'Driscoll
2004
Current Incumbent

Chief Executives of Forfás

{| class="wikitable"
- bgcolor="CCCCCC"! width="5%"|#! width="50%"|Name ! width="25%"|Appointed! width="25%"|Retired
-
1.
Mr. John Travers
1994
2002
-
2.
Mr. Martin Cronin
2002
Current Incumbent

References

ee also

*IDA Ireland
*Enterprise Ireland
*National Competitiveness Council
*Science Foundation Ireland
*Discover Science & Engineering

External links

* [http://www.forfas.ie Forfás website]
* [http://www.discover-science.ie Discover Science & Engineering website]
* [http://www.idaireland.com IDA Ireland website]
* [http://www.sfi.ie Science Foundation Ireland website]
* [http://www.enterprise-ireland.com Enterprise Ireland website]