Easy Target for the Government?

Hi Folks...my name is John Ryall and I run a training company called Ryall Development Trainig Ltd. We help companies to develop their teams , improve sales, become more effective managers etc. We also work with companies on developing strategy etc....a key issue in the current environment.

This is my first blog...first of many i hope and I have started this due to something that has me really rattled right now and that is the approach the Govermnet is taking now to undermine the future of business in this conutry.

It seems absolutely incredible to me that the Irish Government are currently considering axeing funding for the national Skillnets projects running across the country. There are in excess of 100 projects or networks helping tens of thousands of companies to upskill their people and help them become more competitive and operate in a leaner way. This is critical in the current environment particularly with the threat of cheaper labour etc in markets in Central Europe and the Far East. Up to now the govenment has been funding these networks through the redistribution of a portion of the employers contribution to PRSI. In other words the government was re-directing the employer contribution to help those same employers develop their people and thus their businesses....quite logical.
It is widely accepted that the Skillnets model has been a huge success as oppossed to certain other training agency models in Ireland that have been seen to not only be less successful but also somewhat currupt in how they use their budgets....who needs a budget of €1Billion ...is there any threat to their existance? Of course not and it is widely believed that they have infact received increased funding in the April 7 budget...are we surprised?


This isssue is dear to our hearts as we have been delivering training to a number of skillnet networks over the past few years and obviously would hope to continue working in this field into the future.
Apart form this I also believe that with out this funding and with the potential loss of this support to businesses we will see a steady decline in the competitive advantage of Ireland Inc in the short to medium term.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that someone with some common (business) sense will step into the breach here and stop the powers that be attacking easy targets like Skillnets rather than tackling the real problem of rooting out inefficiencies in the public sector.

For more on Ryall Development Training and what we do visit www.ryalldevelopment.com