Reports

This publication presents the findings of an OECD review of SME and entrepreneurship policy in Ireland. It assesses the challenges for SME and entrepreneurship development and offers recommendations for future policy. SMEs and entrepreneurs play a crucial role in the Irish economy, with SMEs accounting for more than 70% of employment. Attitudes to entrepreneurship are positive and SME innovation rates are high. However, SME productivity has not been increasing in recent years, business entry and exit rates are low and few Irish SMEs are directly engaged in exports. There is also untapped potential for entrepreneurship among women, youth and migrants, and variations across the country in SME and entrepreneurship performance. Ireland has a strong set of policies and programmes to address these challenges. The business environment is generally favourable, there are many best practice programmes for supporting high potential SMEs and entrepreneurs, and strong co-ordination of policies across government. At the same time, policies could be strengthened in areas such as growing productivity in medium-sized businesses, increasing the start-up rate, increasing exports, fostering enterprise networks and clusters, drafting a unified SME and entrepreneurship policy strategy document and strengthening the role of Local Enterprise Offices.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has conducted in-depth peer reviews of the energy policies of its member countries since 1976. This process supports energy policy development and encourages the exchange of international best practices and experiences. This report on Ireland discusses the challenges faced as well as possible solutions to help the country’s energy sector continue towards a secure and sustainable future.Despite making substantial advances to transform its energy sector, Ireland is not on course to meet its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target. The decarbonisation of heating in buildings, one focus of this report, is a particular challenge.In a more positive development, wind power accounted for around one-quarter of total generation in 2017 – the third-highest share of all IEA member countries. Additionally, this report suggests that Ireland has considerable scope to further advance alternative means of transport and public transport infrastructure, especially in urban areas.In this report, the IEA provides recommendations for further improvements of Ireland’s energy policy to help the country continue to transform its energy sectors in order to meet the emissions reduction target for 2030.

Under Action 14, countries have committed to implement a minimum standard to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the mutual agreement procedure (MAP). The MAP is included in Article 25 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and commits countries to endeavour to resolve disputes related to the interpretation and application of tax treaties. The Action 14 Minimum Standard has been translated into specific terms of reference and a methodology for the peer review and monitoring process. The minimum standard is complemented by a set of best practices.The peer review process is conducted in two stages. Stage 1 assesses countries against the terms of reference of the minimum standard according to an agreed schedule of review. Stage 2 focuses on monitoring the follow-up of any recommendations resulting from jurisdictions' stage 1 peer review report. This report reflects the outcome of the stage 1 peer review of the implementation of the Action 14 Minimum Standard by Ireland.