Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 10 Jun 2003

Vol. 568 No. 1

Written Answers. - Job Creation.

Phil Hogan

Question:

210 Mr. Hogan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of jobs that have been announced since 1 January 2002; the number of jobs promised in the context of the announcement; the number of jobs that have been created to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15681/03]

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

The issue of job creation is a day-to-day operational issue for the industrial development agencies under the remit of my Department and not one for which I, as Minister, have direct involvement. Only a small number of the jobs announced in any given year would normally be expected to be created within the same year, as there is usually a time lag between the announcement of new jobs and the creation of those jobs.

Factors which influence this time lag are the time taken to locate and acquire a suitable site for the companies' operations, construct the facility and to install plant and machinery, in the case of manufacturing plants, and to recruit and train staff. It should also be noted that frequently the number of jobs quoted in announcements refer to the number of jobs which a company expects to create over a number of years. The main agencies under my Department's remit which deal with job creation are Enterprise Ireland in regard to the development of indigenous industry, IDA Ireland in regard to the attraction of inward investment and Shannon Development in the Shannon region.

In the full year 2002, some 26 IDA Ireland projects with 4,499 associated jobs were announced out of the 55 projects approved for support. By November 2002, the date of the Forfás annual employment survey, 205 of these jobs had been created in greenfield projects while total employment in companies where expansions were announced was 3,672. In all a total of 11,743 jobs were created in IDA Ireland supported companies that year. In 2003 to date, a total of 17 IDA Ireland projects have been announced with 3,346 associated jobs. Job creation figures 2003 will not be available until November 2003, the date of the next Forfás annual employment survey.

The total number of jobs announced by me in companies in the Enterprise Ireland portfolio in 2002 was 200. For 2003, 300 jobs were announced by me in companies in the Enterprise Ireland portfolio at the end of May 2003. In the three companies announced in 2002, 85 jobs have been created to date. While achievement of the job targets is slightly slower than expected, it is anticipated that the balance will be achieved on a longer timescale, between 2004 and 2005. The lower than expected results are primarily due to the economic downturn in the IT sector. As the jobs announcements for 2003 were only recently made in May 2003, it is too early to report on jobs created so far. The plants involved are at the set up phase and operations will commence only in 2004.

In the Shannon region, which comes under the aegis of Shannon Development, the total number of job announcements made by me in the period was 355, of which 185 have already been realised. All these jobs are to be phased in by January 2006 and it is anticipated that the balance will be achieved on time. It is quite clear that most of these job announcements are currently on target, if not ahead of schedule.