Vol. 481 No. 2
31 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Finance the number of separate companies as and from 1 July 1997, which have been approved by his Department and other regulatory authorities, operating from the International Financial Services Centre; the number of employees per company; the total number of people directly employed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15705/97]
To operate in the IFSC, companies must receive approval from a certification advisory committee which is chaired by my Department, and which also includes representatives of the other relevant regulatory authorities.
Since 1 July 1997, this certification advisory committeee has approved the establishment of 23 new stand alone, self-managed projects, and 12 agency operations which will be managed on behalf of the promoters by existing IFSC approved companies. The additional employment associated with these approvals is 164 jobs, which will arise over a period of about three years.
As the approvals I have referred to involve a number of different types of project or agency, the Deputy will appreciate that the employment associated with each of the approvals differs depending on the type of operation being established. In relation to the 23 new self-managed projects approved, the promoters have committed to the creation of 135 new jobs, which represents an average of approximately six jobs per project. The employment commitment associated with the agency operations amounts to a further 29 jobs, or an average of between two and three jobs per approval.
