Vol. 543 No. 2
158 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the fact that over the past three years over 200 industrial jobs have been lost in Ballinamore, County Leitrim; and the plans her Department have for putting in place the provision of industrial jobs to Ballinamore in the next number of months. [26783/01]
I am aware that over 200 jobs have been lost in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, over the past three years. When Ballinamore Textiles closed in 1998 with the loss of approximately 180 jobs, I established the Leitrim task force under the chairmanship of Mr. Paddy Fahy, the then county manager. My Department's industrial development agencies participated in this task force, which reported to me in May 1999.
As part of this report, IDA Ireland, the agency under my Department's aegis with responsibility for the attraction of overseas investment, stated that its target location in County Leitrim was Carrick-on-Shannon. As a result of the report, IDA Ireland set about targeting new business for Leitrim and MBNA was approved support to set up a contact centre in Carrick-on-Shannon with a target of 300 jobs in a new state of the art facility. The first phase of the building has been completed and 150 people have been recruited, which is ongoing at this time. The agency continues to market Leitrim for new business and has reached agreement with the new owners of Emerald Star to establish a small contact centre – five jobs in Carrick-on-Shannon.
As part of the task force, IDA Ireland agreed to the construction of a new 24,000 square foot advance building in Carrick-on-Shannon, which is currently nearing completion and is being marketed by IDA Ireland for new business. Enterprise Ireland, which is the agency under my Department's aegis with responsibility for the development of indigenous industry, is promoting a number of initiatives designed to increase the job creation potential in Ballinamore. Enterprise Ireland has and will continue to promote Ballinamore to potential investors or company expressing an interest in relocating or starting up a business in the area. The agency's north-west regional office promoted County Leitrim at the recent Into the Regions event held to promote regional locations to east coast companies planning to expand their businesses. The agency is currently dealing with a number of potential investors arising from this event.
