Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 21 Mar 2002

Vol. 550 No. 5

Written Answers. - Job Creation.

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

70 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of overseas firms which have made job creating investment here in each of the past four years and in each of the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9658/02]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney):

The number of overseas companies supported by IDA Ireland which started greenfield operations in the manufacturing or internationally traded services sectors between 1998 and 2001 are detailed in the table below. The figures are not available on a monthly basis and it should be noted that the figures for 2001* are provisional figures arising from the Forfás annual employment survey.

Number of	1998	1999	2000	2001*
Greenfield Projects	66	28	48	32
New Jobs Created	16,109	17,829	23,063	13,145

Source: Forfás Annual Employment Survey 1998-2001

Job creating investment also arises from those overseas companies which are already in operation in Ireland and which expand their operations here. There have been successive record numbers of new jobs created in 1998, 1999 and 2000. The year 2001 was the toughest for a long time for many companies in the ICT sector, but some companies continued to grow. The 13,145 new jobs created during 2001 showed a strong performance considering the state of the global economy and is better than anything achieved before 1996. Ireland continues to perform strongly when compared to other European economies.

Questions Nos. 71 and 72 answered with Question No. 69.

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

73 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has received an indication from FÁS regarding the adequacy of the 2002 budget; her views on whether sufficient resources are available to facilitate necessary programmes in 2002; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9661/02]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney):

Total funding from my Department – Exchequer and national training fund – for FÁS for 2002 is €860,009,078, compared to €825,654,804 in 2001. FÁS also earns a small amount of income from other sources, estimated at €10,849,000 in 2002. The funding from my Department is broken down into four subheads as follows:

Subhead	Description	2001 €	2002 €
K1	Administration and general expenses	123,005,876	131,943,000
K2	Training and Integration Supports	269,190,821	301,273,000
K3	Employment Schemes	419,573,521	413,020,078
K4	Capital	13,884,586	13,773,000
Total		825,654,804	860,009,078

The K2 subhead funds training for those in employment and those seeking employment. The main FÁS programmes associated with the K2 subhead are apprenticeships, training support scheme, business training, evening courses, specific skills training, traineeship, community youth training, local training initiatives, return to work, community training workshops, local employment services and specialist training providers for people with disabilities. It is expected that FÁS will have a throughput of 46,000 trainees on all training programmes in 2002 compared to 44,951 in 2001.

The K3 subhead funds FÁS employment schemes. The community employment programme is by far the largest of these with nearly 31,000 participants on the programme at the start of 2002. The number of participants on CE has been falling in recent years due to the mainstreaming of certain essential services which had been provided through the CE scheme, for example, caretakers and classroom assistants in schools, and because of the tightening conditions in the open labour market. It is expected that participation on the scheme will fall to 24,000 by the end of 2002. During the year total throughput on the scheme will be of the order of 44,000. Other programmes include job initiative, the social economy programme, the supported employment programme and the pilot employment programme. The latter two programmes are for people with disabilities.

The FÁS budget has been broadly maintained in recent years. In the light of the labour market situation, where unemployment has fallen from 10.3% in April 1997 to 4% in the final quarter of 2001 and long-term unemployment has fallen from 5.6% in April 1997 to 1.2%, I consider the budget for FÁS to be adequate. More recently, FÁS has been very active in assisting companies and employees facing closure or lay offs. In such circumstances it engages directly with employees facing redundancy and offers alternative employment or training. The budget for 2002 will allow FÁS to continue to intervene if it proves necessary.