Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 9 Dec 2003

Vol. 576 No. 5

Written Answers. - Job Creation.

Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

116 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the total number of new jobs announced in 2003 from new investments or expansion of IDA Ireland backed plants; if the number of such projects in the pipeline is now at its lowest level since the early 1990s; the steps being taken to promote job creation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29923/03]

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

IDA Ireland has statutory responsibility assigned to it by the Oireachtas for the attraction of foreign direct investment to the State and its regions. Despite the global economic turndown, the level of foreign direct investment in Ireland, relative to the size of the economy, remains one of the highest in the world.

During the year to 4 December 2003, 35 greenfield and expansion projects were announced by IDA Ireland with a projected total job content of just over 5,830 jobs. IDA Ireland constantly monitors its pipeline of prospective projects. This is the number of projects and associated jobs that at any time have a likelihood of being won within the next three months.

The pipeline in recent years has not been at the very high levels reached during the high growth period between 1994 and 2000. However, given the very different global economic conditions that have prevailed since 2000 and their consequential effects on the global market for FDI, it would be unrealistic to expect a similarly strong pipeline.

The following table provides details of potential jobs and projects in the IDA Ireland pipeline for each month between April 2002 and August 2003. Despite difficult global conditions, IDA Ireland strategy and policy have been very successful with the lowpoint in the pipeline only being reached in the second half of 2002 and the trend since then being upward.

Date	Jobs in pipeline(Projects with 100 or more jobs)	No. ofprojects
Apr 2002	7400	26
June 2002	6900	25
Sep 2002	6390	19
Jan 2003	7445	24
Apr 2003	7555	25
Aug 2003	7840	28

It must be appreciated that the success of our economy during the 1990s and on into this decade means that Ireland is now much less competitive as a location for low wage manufacturing projects. As such Ireland must gear itself towards attracting a different type of investor. The focus for the future must be to attract investment requiring high skill levels, that is, as far as possible, innovation rather than production orientated, and that links to an increasingly sophisticated business environment.

IDA Ireland's overall strategic response to this new competitive circumstance has been towards a broader vision of what constitutes FDI, with less emphasis on job numbers, and a much greater focus on job quality, higher value added activities, and making Ireland a centre for innovation and the strategic management of value chains rather than just a manufacturing or basic service location; and dedicating resources and expertise to the task of supporting the long-term competitiveness of existing clients, accelerating regional development, winning new higher quality FDI and getting a strong position in new emerging FDI sectors.

I am confident that the strategies and policies being pursued by IDA, together with the ongoing commitment of Government to regional development will continue to bear fruit in terms of delivering the maximum possible level of additional sustainable overseas investment and jobs.

Paul Kehoe

Question:

117 Mr. Kehoe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the details of all job announcements since May 2002; and the number of jobs actually created since then. [29947/03]

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

Details of job announcements from May 2002 to the end of November 2003 are in the detailed statement below. Information as to the number of jobs created is expected to be available early in 2004 from the recent Forfás annual employment survey, and will be forwarded to the Deputy.

Job announcements for IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development Projects from May 2002 to November 2003

Date	Project	Location	Product	JobPotential	Agency	Type
23-May-02	Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd	Clondalkin, Dublin	Pharmaceutical Manufacture	60	IDA	New
17-Jul-02	Medtronic	Galway	Medical Technology	400	IDA	Exp
22-Jul-02	MBNA	Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim	Credit Card Services	500	IDA	Exp
23-Jul-02	Micros Systems	Galway	Information Systems & Solutions	180	IDA	New
10-Sep-02	AOL	Waterford	Call Centre	125	IDA	Exp
18-Sep-02	Symantec	Blanchardstown, Dublin	Internet Security Technology	250	IDA	Exp
18-Sep-02	Quantum	Dundalk, Co. Louth	Data Protection & Network Storage Solutions	120	IDA	Exp
18-Sep-02	Servier (Irl) Industries Ltd	Arklow, Co. Wicklow	Pharmaceuticals	100	IDA	Exp
20-Sep-02	NetIQ	Galway	Computer Management & Monitoring Systems	180	IDA	Exp
23-Sep-02	Starwood Hotels & Resorts World Inc	Cork	Hotel & Leisure Reservation Centre	190	IDA	Exp
25-Sep-02	Oakley Inc	Mullingar, Co. Westmeath	Eyewear Manufacture	100	IDA	New
30-Sep-02	iQon Technologies	Dundalk, Co. Louth	Multimedia Manufacture	37	Ent Ir	Exp
02-Oct-02	Marriot Owenership Resorts Inc	Cork	Holiday Ownership	250	IDA	New
02-Oct-02	McKesson Corporation	Cork	Medical Products	15	IDA	Exp
12-Nov-02	Abbott Laboratories	Galway	Pharmaceutical	600	IDA	Exp
19-Nov-02	Advanced Medical Optics Inc (AMO)	Westport, Co. Mayo	Eye & Contact Lens Care Products	30	IDA	New
19-Nov-02	Advanced Medical Optics Inc (AMO)	Dublin	Eye & Contact Lens Care Products	30	IDA	Exp
25-Nov-02	Halifax Insurance Ireland Ltd	Shannon Free Zone	Insurance	240	Shannon Dev	Exp
16-Jan-03	Pfizer Inc	Dublin	Pharmaceutical	200	IDA	New

Date	Project	Location	Product	JobPotential	Agency	Type
28-Jan-03	Recordati S.p.A	Cork	Pharmaceutical	60	IDA	New
03-Feb-03	Harmac Medical Products Ltd	Roscommon	Manufacture Medical Devices	150	IDA	Exp
12-Feb-03	Trend Micro	Cork	Anti-Virus Software & Content Security Software & Services	100	IDA	New
04-Mar-03	Abbott Laboratories	Longford	Diagnostic manufacturing	600	IDA	New
04-Mar-03	Abbott Laboratories	Sligo	Diagnostic manufacturing	350	IDA	Exp
12-Mar-03	Google	Dublin	Internet Search Operations Centre	200	IDA	New
20-Mar-03	CIGNA Corporation	Loughrea, Co.Galway	Medical claims processing operation	220	IDA	Exp
28-Mar-03	Schlumberger	Little Island, Cork	Shared Services Centre	150	IDA	New
28-Mar-03	ALTANA Pharma AG	Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork	pharmaceutical manufacturing	150	IDA	New
28-Mar-03	Minelab Electronics Pty Ltd	Bandon, Co. Cork	Manufacturing of metal sensing technology products	48	IDA	Exp
28-Mar-03	M/A-COM Eurotec BV	Blackrock, Cork	Design & mfg of radio frequency and microwave wireless devices	18	IDA	Exp
01-Apr-03	SAP	Galway	Global Technical Support and Customer Interaction Centre	350	IDA	New
14-Apr-03	Overture Services Inc	Dublin	Internet Search Operations Centre	200	IDA	New
23-Apr-03	Accenture	Dublin	Management Consulting & Technology Services	150	IDA	Exp
29-Apr-03	Inamed Corporation	Arklow, Co. Wicklow	Manufacture silicone implants	200	IDA	Exp
08-May-03	Gerard Laboratories	Baldoyle, Co. Dublin	Pharmaceuticals	200	IDA	Exp
21-May-03	Autolaunch	Carlow	Machinery & Tool Manufacture	50	Ent Irl	New
23-May-03	Century Homes	Tullamore, Co. Offaly	Timber-Frame Building Manufacture	120	Ent Irl	New
23-May-03	Century Homes	Monaghan	Timber-Frame Building Manufacture	50	Ent Irl	Exp
23-May-03	Century Homes	Longford	Timber-Frame Building Manufacture	40	Ent Irl	Exp
23-May-03	Century Homes	Dungarvan, Co. Waterford	Timber-Frame Building Manufacture	40	Ent Irl	Exp
01-Jul-03	Infineon Technologies AG	Dublin	Semiconductor Industry	30	IDA	Exp
07-Jul-03	ABB Transformers Ltd	Waterford	Manufacture Distribution Transformers	70	IDA	Exp
07-Jul-03	BuiPin GmbH	Waterford	Paint Manufacture	20	IDA	New
24-Jul-03	Chanelle Group	Galway (Loughrea)	Veterinary & Human Medicinces	103	Ent Irl	Exp
24-Jul-03	CP3 Software Solutions Ltd	Dublin (Walkinstown)	Software Solutions	20	Ent Irl	New
24-Jul-03	Ecom Interaction Services Ltd	Cork (Clonakilty)	Telemarketing	40	Ent Irl	Exp
24-Jul-03	Vistamed Limited	Leitrim (Roosky)	Medical Tubing	30	Ent Irl	Exp
24-Jul-03	Legacy Web Services Ltd	Dublin 14	Web based business solutions	17	Ent Irl	New
24-Jul-03	Steripack Limited	Offaly (Clara)	Manufacture sterilizable packing for medical devices	35	Ent Irl	Exp
24-Jul-03	Cape Technologies Ltd	Dublin (Blackrock)	Telecoms Software	71	Ent Irl	Exp
24-Jul-03	Aliope Limited	Dublin 9	Asset Management of Digital Video Content for wireless networks	11	Ent Irl	New
24-Jul-03	Spring & Precision Engineering	Wexford	Mechanical Engineering Products	32	Ent Irl	Exp
24-Jul-03	Lifestyle Furniture	Co. Laois	Innovative Furniture Products	27	Ent Irl	Exp
07-Aug-03	BioClin Research Laboratories	Co. Westmeath (Athlone)	R&D Services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, veterinary & neutraceutical industries	30	Ent Irl	New
09-Sep-03	TR-Electronic GmbH	Cork	Software development	30	IDA	New
15-Sep-03	Pepsi-Cola	Cork	Soft Drinks Manufacture	250	IDA	New & Exp
16-Sep-03	eBay & PayPal	Dublin (Blanchardstown)	Secure online payments	800	IDA	New
03-Oct-03	Puca Technologies	Dublin (Sandymount)	Mobile marketing & entertainment application	18	Ent Irl	New
03-Oct-03	3 Procure Technologies Ltd	Dublin	Online Catalogue System	22	Ent Irl	New
03-Oct-03	Scannell Solutions Ltd	Cork	Internet environmental health and safety management solution	13	Ent Irl	New
03-Oct-03	Phorest Communications Ltd (T/A Demonware)	Dublin	Network middleware for game developers & publishers	23	Ent Irl	New
03-Oct-03	Ballycotton Seafood Ltd	Cork	Suppliers of fresh fish	22	Ent Irl	New
03-Oct-03	Inner Working	Dublin	Performance based learning systems for software developers	22	Ent Irl	New

Date	Project	Location	Product	JobPotential	Agency	Type
03-Oct-03	DigiSoft.tv	Cork	Interactive Digital TV System Software Development	30	Ent Irl	New
03-Oct-03	Longford Architectural Metalwork Ltd	Longford	Design & Fabrication of Architectual Metalworks	12	Ent Irl	New
03-Oct-03	Webfios Ltd	Dublin (Dún Laoghaire)	Development of visual elearning platform	13	Ent Irl	New
03-Oct-03	Proxy Biomedical Ltd	Galway	Medical Devices	11	Ent Irl	New
03-Oct-03	Blue Metrix Ltd	Cork	Web analytics Software	24	Ent Irl	New
06-Oct-03	Olympus Diagnostica GmbH	Co. Clare	Diagnostic Research & Development	22	IDA	Exp
13-Oct-03	MAPICS Incorporated	Athlone	Software Development Centre	55	IDA	New
14-Oct-03	Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS)	Cork	Information technology outsourcing services	100	IDA	New
17-Nov-03	Contact Partners Ltd	Shannon Free Zone	Sales and customer service care solutions	170	Shannon Dev	Exp