Vol. 535 No. 3
63 Mr. Yates asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has satisfied herself that a co-ordinated approach to regional development has been adopted by her Department and appropriate agencies under the aegis of her Department with particular reference to the Industrial Development Authority, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development; and the steps she proposes to take to achieve a more balanced regional development. [12412/01]
The achievement of balanced regional development is a key policy and operational objective of my Department and of the industrial development agencies. It is enshrined in industrial development legislation and is a key objective in the policy statements of my Department and of the development agencies. Progress on the achievement of targets set in respect of regional development is monitored and reported on a continuous basis.
Balanced regional development requires a better spread of investment, employment and population growth between regions and within regions, and not just in the urban centres. My Department and the development agencies seek to ensure that the required investments in economic and social infrastructure to achieve more balanced regional development are identified and put in place. The co-ordination of policy is continuously pursued and achieved through a number of mechanisms between my Department, Forfás and the industrial development agencies, IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development. The implementation of this co-ordinated policy approach is monitored annually through the approval of the negotiating guidelines of the agencies, which have a strong regional focus, by my Department and the board of Forfás.
As part of its new focus on the regions, IDA Ireland, for its part, is seeking to deliver over 50% of all newly approved greenfield jobs to the Objective One region. The 50% target was met for the year 2000, ahead of the agency's schedule. Attractive financial packages will continue to be made available to appropriate projects which may choose to locate or expand in the regions.
Enterprise Ireland has developed a comprehensive approach to the achievement of balanced regional economic development. Its recently launched regional strategy document entitled Driving Growth in Regional Enterprise articulates a number of key themes which are central to the delivery of growth. The Enterprise Ireland approach is based on developing existing business, building the environment for business, encouraging new high potential start-up firms and exploiting new opportunities.
