Written Answers. - Job Creation.
Trevor Sargent
Question:
77
Mr. Sargent
asked the
Tánaiste
and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has plans to target County Laois for new businesses in view of the high unemployment rate and low average income in the county.
[12517/03]
The issue of job creation is a day-to-day operational issue for the enterprise development agencies of my Department and is one in which I have no direct function. IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Laois County Enterprise Board are the agencies under the aegis of my Department with responsibility for industrial development in the Laois area.
IDA Ireland, the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland, is acutely conscious of the relative performance of County Laois in recent years and is actively marketing and promoting Laois as a location for inward investment through its network of overseas offices. IDA Ireland believes that the new business park at Portlaoise, with its offices and technology buildings, will be of great assistance in attracting overseas investment to the county and intends to market the business park to the international services and health care sectors. A 25,000 sq. ft. advance technology building, which is the first unit on the park, has been occupied by ebm Ireland Limited. Construction of a second facility, a 17,000 sq. ft. advance office building, will be completed towards the end of 2003. The agency has also applied for and received planning permission for a further two advance technology buildings of approximately 25,000 sq. ft. each.
Enterprise Ireland, within the context of its regional development function, works actively with indigenous companies in County Laois with a view to promoting further enterprise and employment in the county. In an effort to increase the level of start-up projects in the county, Enterprise Ireland is holding the first national campus enterprise day on Thursday, 29 May in the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise. This special event will enable campus enterprises, participating on the institute of technologies enterprise platform programmes, to network with each other. Keynote presenters will provide tips, techniques and strategies on funding, marketing, selling and procurement to help entrepreneurs find connections to grow their new business.
Enterprise Ireland also assists enterprise by providing community enterprise centres to facilitate and promote new business development. Under the first phase of the community enterprise scheme 2002, Enterprise Ireland approved capital and management grants to fund an expansion of the existing Mountmellick Development Association Enterprise Centre, and approved two feasibility grants for Laois Chamber and Abbeyleix Community Development to promote the planning of new community enterprise centres. Enterprise Equity Venture Capital Group, which is a public-private partnership with Enterprise Ireland, recently launched a new €7 million seed capital fund which will provide seed finance and mentoring for young companies in the Border, midland and western region.
At the micro-enterprise level, the Laois County Enterprise Board is actively promoting job creation activities throughout the county through the range of supports that it provides to small businesses. In 2002, Laois County Enterprise Board financially assisted 29 enterprises, with the potential to create 60 full-time jobs. Since the board's establishment in October 1993, and as a direct result of its activities, a total of 896 full-time jobs have been created in County Laois.
I am confident that the strategies and policies being pursued by the enterprise agencies of my Department, together with the Government's ongoing commitment to regional development, will bear fruit in terms of creating additional sustainable jobs in the region.
Questions Nos. 78 to 80, inclusive, answered with Question No. 10.
Questions Nos. 81 to 84, inclusive, answered with Question No. 1.
