At the end of January the INOU made a submission to the Department of Rural and Community Development on the preparation of Ireland’s second National Social Enterprise Policy. Our submission focused on social enterprise in its role in providing employment opportunities for unemployed people and others who are furthest, excluded from the labour market; and the importance of supporting community led social enterprises, in particular where people are seeking to address the socio-economic exclusion and inequality facing their communities.
INOU affiliates who are involved in social enterprises have noted that they have two roles that can pull against each other: (i) to run a business and keep it going, both socially and economically; and (ii) to offer employment and progression opportunities to people who might not otherwise access them. In particular, people who are long-term unemployed, have a disability, are ex-prisoners, are members of the Traveller and Roma communities, are living in rural and isolated areas, or are living in urban disadvantaged areas. Securing proper funding to maintain and develop these two roles can be a continuous and time consuming challenge.
The reality is that in many communities given the challenges of marginalisation, disadvantage and / or isolation, there is insufficient income to generate a surplus as the communities / families / people using these services cannot afford the market rate. If they could, the private-for-profit sector would already be meeting their needs. It is essential that as social enterprise policy evolves and clearer funding lines come on stream that sight is not lost of the important work undertaken by community based providers, often operating on limited resources and seeking to address socio-economic exclusion within their own communities. The funding needs of these social enterprises must be acknowledged and addressed.
The Public Consultation document for the development of the second National Social Enterprise Policy acknowledged that “Social enterprises share a number of common features including pursuing ‘profit with purpose’, social and/or environmental objectives and developing economic activity. They also have different needs and interests which are informed by their sector of activity, location, size, and age. Whilst not a definitive categorisation, social enterprises could be said to include the following;
- Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), which support disadvantaged people to prepare for, and participate in, the labour market;
- Enterprise development social enterprises which support the creation of other enterprises (e.g. through the provision of office space and facilities);
- ‘Deficient demand’ social enterprises which seek to meet a demand for goods and services within a community where there is insufficient demand for the operation of a regular market for example, due to an apparent economic and social disadvantage or low density of population;
- Environmental social enterprises which focus on climate issues and environmental sustainability; and
- Social enterprises contracted to deliver public services in disadvantaged areas and communities.” (p3)
The Public Consultation document proposed five policy objectives:
- Building Awareness of Social Enterprises
- Under this objective the INOU noted that the Government’s White Paper on Enterprise acknowledged the role of social enterprises: For example, social enterprises are already actively supporting the green transition through many circular economy initiatives and the EU’s Industrial Strategy recognises the Proximity and Social Economy as one of the 14 key industrial ecosystems to support the twin transition to a green and digital economy as well as contributing to recovery and resilience. (p48)
- Growing Social Enterprise
- INOU affiliates have noted the challenge of filling key roles in their social enterprise due to inadequate funding, this reality makes it particularly challenging to offer a competitive salary for managerial roles. The lack of core funding for social enterprises adds to the challenge of trying to maintain and develop this type of activity. While, the lack of access to adequate funding for capital expenditure is another issue, with the grants available being relatively small.
- Climate Action Contribution
- The range of challenges and opportunities facing Ireland under this goal are immense. The INOU remains concerned that those with fewer resources will find trying to meet these challenges and avail of opportunities arising extremely difficult. Social enterprise has a clear role to play in addressing this reality.
- National and International Engagement
- Social enterprises that are led by communities themselves have an important role to play in Ireland’s implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, for example SDG 1.4 aims to “By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance.”
- Data Collection and Social Impact Measurement
- In the collection of meaningful data that supports good assessment of the social impact of social enterprises, it will be important to work with social enterprises so that there is a good understanding of the relevance of the data sought, to what end it will be used, and how it could influence improved policy development and implementation. In some cases it will be important to make supports available so that social enterprises with fewer resources are assisted to play their part in the provision, collection, analysis of data that will underpin appropriate social impact assessment and measurement.
The full submission is available at Link for the submission page