Vol. 465 No. 3
215 Mr. Hughes asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the number of jobs created since 1990 which could be classified as teleservicing jobs; the location of these jobs; the number of those jobs provided by foreign companies; the number of those jobs provided by national companies; the projections for the next two years of the attractiveness of Ireland as a base for further creation of teleservicing jobs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9536/96]
In 1992, a target to create 2,000 jobs in the teleservices sector by 1997 was set. Already there are approximately 2,000 people employed in this sector. Most of the jobs are in the Dublin area. However, significant teleservices centres have also been located in Cork, Limerick, Galway, Dundalk and Wicklow.
While the majority of the jobs have been provided by overseas companies assisted by IDA Ireland, Forbairt have also been working with Irish companies to develop an indigenous telemarketing sector and projects involving some 266 jobs have already been approved in Irish companies. Ireland is well positioned for the future attraction of new teleservices jobs. Negotiations are ongoing with new teleservicing companies and existing companies, already located here, wishing to add teleservice jobs to their facilities.
