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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 4 Dec 2002

Vol. 558 No. 5

Written Answers. - Job Creation.

Paul Connaughton

Question:

123 Mr. Connaughton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on whether job creation in the BMW region has not kept pace with other regions in the country; the number of jobs created in the BMW region in 2000 and up to 1 November 2002; the number of redundancies in the BMW region for this period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25099/02]

While the BMW region has tended in the past to perform less satisfactorily than the rest of the country in terms of increasing and sustaining its employment in manufacturing and internationally-traded services, there are encouraging signs that the policies being adopted by the enterprise development agencies to promote the development of the region are having a positive impact.

In 2001, the BMW region accounted for 26% of the national population and 25% of the workforce. In 1999, the region accounted for 18% of gross job gains in agency-assisted companies. The corresponding figures for 2000 and 2001 show an increase to 20% and 25% respectively. Data in respect of 2002 will be available early in 2003. Gross job gains in the region for the companies concerned in the period 1999 to 2001 were 23,308. The regional share of employment in agency-assisted companies will continue to be monitored into the future.
As regards redundancies, the number of notified redundancies in respect of the BMW region in the period 1 January 2000 to 31 October 2002 was 11,726, or 22% of total redundancies. When compared with the BMW share of the national population and workforce, this indicates that the impact of redundancies has been less severe in the BMW region than in the south and east region.
Regional emphasis is a strong feature of the various programmes adopted under the National Development Plan, 2000 to 2006, and carried out through the Structural Fund Operational Programmes for that period. It is underpinned by the strong regional emphasis in the work of agencies such as IDA and Enterprise Ireland. IDA is committed to delivering half of all new greenfield jobs into the Border, midland and western regions in the period 2000 to 2003. Both agencies have re-focussed their resources on regions outside Dublin, and particular account is taken of the needs of the BMW area in matters such as transport, roads and telecommunications infrastructure.
Regional development will continue to be a strong focus of policy. This will be facilitated by the implementation of the national spatial strategy, published last week, in which the majority of the newly identified gateways and hubs are in the BMW region. Regional impact will also be one of the main factors to be considered in the mid-term review of the operational programmes for 2000 to 2006, to be carried out in 2003.
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