Call for a 'transformation in governance' - John Gormley to launch book at DCU
-31 October 2010

DATE: Thursday 21 October 2010
TIME: 6.30
VENUE: Albert College, Dublin City University campus
EVENT: John Gormley, TD, to launch book 'Local Dublin, Global Dublin: Public Policy in an Evolving City Region', edited by Prof David Jacobson and Deiric O Broin.

The book highlights the troubling lack of evidence-based policy in many areas as well as the highly isolated nature of policy making processes which pervades many of the policy areas.

There is an increased concern among scholars, experts, politicians, civil society activists and policy makers in recent years at the lack of policies of intervention focused on the region.

• The book examines the following issues:
• the implications for the region of government choices regarding support for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the development of indigenous firms (DIF).
• relationships between high-tech and low-tech are becoming more blurred and that facilitating innovative links between local firms and multinational enterprises (MNEs) is rather more important than officially understood.
• Irish policy on encouraging foreign MNEs to set up subsidiaries in Ireland is far more developed and intensive than policy on Irish companies setting up subsidiaries abroad.
• This is all the more surprising in the context of the substantial increase in the importance of direct investment by Irish companies abroad (increasing nearly eight-fold between 1997 and 2007, while FDI increased by less than four-fold).
• the authors warn of the potential relocation of parts of the MNE pharmaceutical sector out of Ireland. The authors conclude that Irish government efforts to encourage postgraduate research in higher education constitute an appropriate policy for the future of the biopharmaceutical industry in Dublin.
• How important is the light rail link between the city and the airport for the development of the city region of Dublin? There are two views on Metro North - one is that the costs of Metro North will exceed the benefits and the other that the benefits will exceed the costs. What might make the difference is whether or not government policy backs up that of the local authority to appropriately exploit the new transport corridor.
• O Broin calls for a transformation in governance if problems are to be solved.