IBEC's Regional Policy Unit was established on 1 January 2012 with a remit to improve the organisation's effectiveness in terms of representing the priorities, concerns and interests of our members at regional level.

Our perspective on regional and local government reform is informed by IBEC's standing as a national organisation with a strong regional representative and governance structure. This includes a network of seven regions that are supported by fully serviced offices in Cork, the Mid West , West, North West and the South East. The Midlands and the North East is serviced from our Head Office in Dublin.

Our organisational objective is to advance a new regional development and renewal agenda linked with effective funding and delivery structures that have the capacity to provide uplift for those parts of the country that are acknowledged to be lagging behind Dublin and the Eastern region in terms of both the share of population growth, economic development and job creation.

As a national goal we need to achieve a better or more appropriate regional spread of infrastructural development and investment growth, as Ireland competes internationally for the higher value parts of the available direct foreign investment.

How IBEC develops Regional Policy

Regional Executive Council - We work with our members regionally to ensure that all policy developments have an appropriate regional balance. Issues of regional importance are discussed and collated at each region’s IBEC Regional Executive Councils (REC) which is made up of senior people in local business and employer groups. Each REC has a president who sits on IBEC’s Regional Presidents Council.

Regional Presidents Council - The Regional Presidents Council provides an important national forum to nurture, develop and expand upon regional issues. It ensures that policy and representational requirements for the regions are reinforced in IBEC’s national focus. The role of the Regional Presidents Council is to underpin the work of the existing IBEC Regional Executive Councils. Its work is comprehensive and driven by the necessity to promote balanced regional development as a priority.